Scipione Amati's "Historia del regno di Voxu..." by K. M. Lucchese

Translation of K. M. Lucchese of the Historia del regno di Voxu… by Scipione Amati.

A History of the Kingdom of Voxu (Oshu) of Japan and of the antiquity of family, nobility, and valor of its king, Idate (Daté) Masamune, of the favors that he has bestowed upon Christianity, and of the increase of our Holy Faith in those parts,

And of the Embassy that he has sent to his holiness Pope Paul V, and of his successes, with various other things for the edification and spiritual enjoyment of the Reader.

Dedicated to his Holiness Pope Paul V

Made by the learned Scipione Amati, Roman Interpreter and Historian of the Embassy.

In Rome at the press of Giacomo Mascandi, 1615, with the license of the Superiors.

DEDICATION (in Latin)

To Our Most Holy Lord Paul the Fifth, Supreme Pontiff, Sitting as Ruler of the Christian Republic, by the Writer of this History, Companion of the Journey, Interpreter of the Legation, Scipio Amatus (Amati), Roman, I. V. D.

The Great Islands of Japan, Holiest Father, remarkable for having a large number of people, admirable as to their types of buildings, extremely rich as to their wealth in all manner of things, lying in an Ocean so great a distance from the lands and waters of the West, notable for their many rivers, unknown for many centuries until now – first discovered by the Lusitanians (Portuguese) – are divided into sixty-six provinces, accepting one Emperor (Shogun) over all of them.  The people of these Islands are outstanding as to the excellence of their nature; proven in the warlike use of arms; distinguished in manifold sorts of skills; in this way they are superior to the rest of the nations of those parts as Westerners are to all others, themselves also laying claim to first place among Easterners, when compared with us. 

            Where there is such mildness of climate (and) richness of land, (and) the inborn nature of men thrives, it is to be expected that the work of preaching about the great compassion of Omnipotent God, the liberality of the Church, (and) the prerogative of the Church of the Vicar of Christ might begin, (and) having begun be propagated effectively thereafter.  Here the land is sometimes passive, ruled by the tyranny of the Shoguns, at other times blooming with the effort of the piety of those Ruling, imitating the beginnings of the growing Church.  A broad field, an immense crop, and a very fruitful harvest: it cannot be done except by the effort of the workers, the eagerness of the helpers, and the vigilance of the directors.

            Wherefore, such things having been heard concerning the Christ-faithful Japanese and having been known concerning the poverty, humility and evangelical doctrine of the Brothers of Saint Francis established by their works, they were summoned from the Philippine Islands: then called back [lacuna in the text] again and again requested, until at last [lacuna in the text] the fortunate arrival of one of those Fathers into those regions, so that the light of [lacuna in the text] doctrine might be shed forth and that they [lacuna in the text]  the Fathers of the Society of Jesus and out of so many ruling idolaters a few Kings might erect [lacuna in the text] of the Holy Mother Church. 

            The great proof – of the conversion of Daté Masamune, King of Oshu, the business of foreign legations, the great growth of Evangelical law that will come in those Kingdoms, the ultimate allegiance, therefore towards the faith of the Vicars of Christ, (and) towards the Prince of the Christian Republic – has been documented (here) with laudable credibility. The pontificate of both Gregory XIII and Sixtus V of blessed memory rejoiced in a similar arrival of Ambassadors (i.e. the Tensho Mission), to a common general acclaim, and the event stood out, and, among the annals of those already mentioned, judged the extensive honors of the legation (to be) among the agreeable (deeds) of the flourishing Holy Church of God, the public joys of the Apostolic Senate and the private joys of the whole Church, and of all good men.

            The same reason for pleasure upon the approach of these legates was bestowed by the Lord, nay rather for the greater happiness of your soul for your fortunate Pontificate, for the Holy College of Senators and for the Roman People, as I have read in Isaiah Chapter Nine:  The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those living in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light has arisen and Thou hast multiplied the people, hast thou not multiplied the joy and They rejoice in you face to face, just as those people rejoice in the harvest, they rejoice like those who rejoice in victory.  These are the first fruits of the labors of the Franciscans, from the Lord’s fields in the regions of the so-remote and vast Orient.  These are the fruits of usefulness and glory, which the sacred Religion of the Holy Roman Church makes immortal, and most deserving of the expectation of all good men.

            Accept, O Paul most holy, the obedience of such a King, the pledge of will, the eternal bond of faith: men not convinced by an abundance of weapons, or by the warlike apparatus of military business, but strongly attracted by the truth of Evangelical law alone, and by obedience to the Holy See, and by inheritance of the Holy Faith.  Revealing, therefore, that which is prohibited to the great King because of the immense interval of the waters and the lands and certain mysteries of rule, that same debt of faithfulness and obedience with these Speeches, to contrived as to be laid into your hands and at your most holy feet, and so that on this most auspicious day there be the greatest joy of spirit to Your Holiness, honor to this holy Senate, to the Universal Christian Republic, and a perpetual monument to the glory of the Holy Roman Church. 

            If the Empire of Caesar, the Republic of the Consuls, even the Series of Kings be sought again and all the legations for friendship, for allegiance with the Roman People were begun from the beginning:  of those there would be none so glorious, so distant, as has come forth by ship at the present moment from the farthest parts of the globe: scarcely in the passing of two centuries has come such a sight to Your Most Holy See and declared the homage of the King of Oshu, of such a powerful King, and whose scepter he places at the feet of Your Holiness, which is not the less beneficial to him, the more so as he is thought to be glorious to the Church and pleasing to all the Christ-faithful.  For as the beginnings of faith and the gradual growth of religion burst forth from the womb of the Holy Mother Church: thus the admirable Christ-faithful in the furthest parts of Japan were nourished by the same milk, and are today adults in the faith, and proven in Christian virtue, confessing face to face by means of this crown of most abundant Fathers one faith, one Church, One Vicar of Christ.

            All of Italy is rejoiced, therefore, scarcely thirty years having passed; it was fitting that, being renewed by the fortunate arrival of the Legates, the joy of the Roman Church be completed by the obedience of the Oriental kingdoms.  Which Legates if you see that they – discharging their duty in the name of King Daté, O Holiest Father – arrive at your Holy See after so many ocean reefs, so many dangers on land, driven by a desire for religion and for giving honor; they seem to ask for justice for themselves, since they have been saved from so many various random accidents that they might kiss your holiest feet and accept your blessing and that they might procure the favor of all in so doing.

            For all who, through an eagerness for knowledge of how to enter distant and impenetrable regions of the earth, and through a desire for exploration not without great risk of life, personal loss and waste of their time, when at first they stood forth, taking a vow as to their primary purpose, namely: that they be invigorated by the various customs of peoples, the various skills of civilizations, the various regions of the earth.  This is none other than the recollection of their outstanding labor, and how all the discomforts of the yearlong wandering, all the dangers and accidents, are entirely changed into joy.  May it likewise come to pass for these Ambassadors and their companions, who persevered not for the sake of knowledge, but of faith, not for the sake of studying the skies but rather Evangelical law, not to the splendid Theater of the Gentiles but to the Holy City of God, not for learning the teachings of natural Philosophy but for sitting at the true Vicariate of Christ, at the government of eternal salvation.  That which they have hoped for so long, today comes to pass with great joy of spirit.

            This, Holiest Father, is Brother Luis Sotelo, promulgator of divine law, skilled in the language of Japan, bondsman to the conversion of the souls of the Gentiles for a period of twelve years, twice condemned to death for the faith of Christ, at length entered into the presence of the Shogun of Japan and the goodwill of the King of Oshu, today declares in the name of that same King obedience to Your Holiness, and an oath of fidelity.  This is Don Filippo Faxecura (Hasekura), noble Knight, Japanese householder, linked to royal blood, cleansed by the waters of baptism in Madrid, conspicuous in virtue, marked by prudence, regarding both good or ill events with equanimity, who bears the burden of the Embassy along with Brother Luis.

            For which reason I entreat Your Holiness as a suppliant, indulging my great humility, that, by means of your fatherly fondness for charity, and by the innate mercy of the Holy See, that it (the Holy See) deign today to receive obedience in the person of such a great King, through Legates drawn from the most remote of regions and showing forth royal testimonial letters, with solemn pomp and ceremony.  For King Daté of Oshu, the greatest of the all the Kings of Japan in regards to the size of his kingdom, the abundance of generosity, the magnificence of his weaponry, his nearness to the Shogun, and a supporter of the Faithful.  Though he has deferred the imposition of baptism until a more opportune time, at the convenience of the (local) Church, since regularly scheduled services have yet to be established (there).

            Nevertheless, he has allowed the doctrine of Evangelical law freely to be preached to his subjects and he has made it known that it is pleasing to him that all are to be reborn through water and the Holy Spirit, and that the greatest good of Christian law – as known through the Catechism established by the holy eloquence of the Fathers – should be bestowed as soon as possible to himself and to his people.  This same man, ardently illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, abolished the cult of idols and – having condemned the crafty idols of so many deities, famous for many centuries past for their popularity with worshippers, broken into bits as public works of the people, their fallacy publicly recognized and condemned – today witnesses to the one faith of Christ, humbly venerating one successor of Peter and Primacy of the Roman Church.

            Redeemed, he would have solicitously seen to it that sufficiently magnificent Monasteries and Places of Worship for God be constructed; and he would have decreed the rest of those things necessary for Ecclesiastical ministries, out of the regal munificence of his spirit, had there existed in that place a sufficiency of Ministers, or cultivators for the Lord’s harvest.  For this reason, impeded by a certain secrecy of rule, and by very serious turns of events, so that as a result he was not able to render the compliance of his fidelity in person, having prostrated himself in person at your holiest feet.  Since, however, towards Your Holiness he has declared the testimony of his weighty will and his wonderful desire for the safety of his men, that he established these men of proven faith and illustrious as to the fame of their stated nobility as his Ambassadors, by means of whose prayers, services, entreaties he hopes for himself, however unmerited and however recently under the sovereign name of the Cross, both out of the full tenderness of his spirit, and out of the feeling of Christians against the inveterate cult of idols, that these things turn out favorably.

            Assuredly it seems wonderful that a very powerful King, proven in war, outstanding in power, ruling at the farthest ends of the world, should today venerate the Majesty of the Vicar of Christ as the greatest Priest on earth.  If therefore this King, illumined by a ray of divine charity, lately marked with the title of the faith of the Roman Church should confer (upon you) with the ceremony of the Legates a pair of swords of solemn power, how easily is the deceitful supposition of the heretics put to flight; how well the Primacy of the Church (will respond) to the naysayers, what an everlasting light of Christian truth will so distant an observance of confession be!

            Send forth, therefore, PAUL, Holiest Father, the beams of your Majesty, your liberality, and your mercy, just as does the Sun.  Send forth the rays of your holiness into every land, so that with the darkness of their minds having been dispelled, and the mystery of the Sun of Justice having been grasped, you alone, Prince of the Church, all nations will adore, and the lands will confess you to be the key-bearer of Heaven and the Vicar of Christ.  Which conversion of all Islands by the light of the Holy Mother Church was foreseen by Isaiah, set forth in Chapter 32:  the people will walk in your light and Kings to the brightness of your rising.  Lift up your eyes and see.  All of those men are come together, they have come to you.  Your sons will come from far off, and your daughters will rise up from the coast; then you will see, and you will have abundance, and your heart will be amazed, and will expand, when the great multitude of the sea will turn back to you, the courage of the nations shall come to you.

            Father of the whole Christian Republic, give thought for the happiness of those (distant) parts, for the conversion of so many kingdoms, for the salvation of so many children, crying to you, for the ministry of the Religious, for the hard work of the harvesters, with the very vigilance of a Patron.  We see that Rome has been brightened by your most fortunate rule by means of the magnificence of its places of worship, by the construction of buildings, by the increase in virtue; all things are disposed to peace, favorable to the Republic, so that the monuments of faith, the triumphs of your pontificate live in the minds of men:  the fame of so many illustrious deeds of the Roman BORGHESE House[1] shall live to the eternal memory of its most august name.

            Fortunate therefore is the legation of the King of Oshu, fortunate the Ambassadors, who not to Caesar Augustus but to Paul the Fifth, Vicar of Christ, not to imperial power, but to the Roman Church, not to seek peace but conversion, not friendship but obedience, not by the law of equality but by that of subjection, do they bring forth letters, supplications, and kisses.  Even if there be so great a love of those nations towards the embrace of faith of a ready will, and an admirable desire of the spirit for eternal glory, so that as many of these nations as possible should triumph over the sword of tyrannical persecution and over the glorious martyrdom of the Cross, nevertheless the munificence of the treasure of the Holy Mother Church, excited by prize of eternal things, should undertake greater increases day by day.  The Light of ecclesiastical truth will sparkle the brighter, and the ardor for salvation will cleave more powerfully into their souls.

            Therefore may God the Best and Greatest preserve Your Holiness safe for the Christian Republic for as long as possible, so that the most august Majesty of the Holy See, the splendor be extolled among all nations more favorably, may the unusual happiness of your Apostolic ministry be commended in all places, and may your fame live, contained by no limits, may your virtue live, and also your glory.  May fame make known as widely as possible the conspicuous offspring of martyrdom, the children of Saint Francis long since marked for the good of the Church: recently in Japan time and again, that by their famous doctrine, by their admirable energy, by their hard work and watchfulness, that it (this account) may make known these first fruits of the new Church of Your Holiness now for the first time offered up: so extremely rich a harvest of conversion from this newest field of the globe to be gathered into the storehouse of the Holy Mother Church, and those things belong to their Father may it always for all time uphold, publish, magnify.

            Now therefore even so take up, Most Blessed Father, also this little work of mine, dedicated to your Holiness, so that under your happiest auspices whatever of good that was done, or whatever told, from beginning right up to the end, might be believed to be yours by all men.

            At Rome this third day before the Nones of November (3 November), 1615.

PREFACE (in Italian)

To the Reader:

            The Eternal Majesty of our Lord God having created man in His own image for whom there is not greater pleasure than to bless man and to exalt him and to raise him up by means of conversion, who gives grace in this life and glory in the next, whence the Apostle:  deus vult homines salvos fieri (“God wishes for men to be saved”) having, for His part, always having done everything necessary to bring about this end.  But after the mind of man was darkened and deprived of free will.  Not only is Man unable to recognize his own good, but a loosening of the bonds of his fear is caused by the very light which God has placed in his soul, as the Psalmist has testified:  signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine (“the light of the face of God is marked upon us”) or by the conscience and the light of reason, lest we are conquered by our passions, or fall into a thousand kinds of vice, and although one finds oneself in the blindness of reason, not because of this trespass feeling the remorse of sin, nor to desire one’s God as the beginning and the end of human nature, according to what Saint Augustine has said:  Fecisti nos Domine ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec perveniat ad te (“You have made us like you, Lord, and our heart is unquiet until it shall come to you”).

            From whence it follows that God loves His image in mankind, no matter how bad they are, as is written in the book of Wisdom:  Nihil odisti eorum, quae fecisti (“You hated none of the things which you have made”), reducing Man to his holy service by means of the light of reason and by his inclination to the highest good, and finding some inclination, however small, or to put it better, when one delights in those things to warn him and set him straight, removing all obstacles on his path:  Ego sum Via (“I am the Way”), because not only is He the Way but also the eternal Way, and he breaks all the bonds of sin and of the devil:  Dirupisti vincula mea (“You have shattered my bonds”).  And so He gives the capacity to the intellect to understand divine things, and subjects the passions to the will with gratitude for the gift:  Tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis (“I will sacrifice to you the enemy in praise”).

            With these supernatural and divine means that only Our Lord God can use and accommodate to the limits of our nature, he has returned to grace, not sinners in particular, but also Kingdoms, Nations and Provinces, and Republics with an infinity of souls freed from a miserable servitude to idols, and from sin, and has redeemed the debts of the deserving to true identity, and the blood of Jesus Christ, saving the since the beginning of creation by silencing the machinations of the Devil, and noted by few, as Saint Paul tells us:  Infirma mundi elegit Deus, et contemptibilia, et ea quae non sunt (“God chose the weak things of the world and those that are held in contempt, and those thing which do not yet exist”) perfecting them ten, according to Your divine order in the most opportune time, which provides for our needs, and the infertility of the vines of the workers, sent to cultivate them at various hours of the morning, at midday and ultimately in the evening of our age has sent to work in the great part of the field that is Japan zealous gatherers of fruit, who are the Fathers of the Company of Jesus, and after them the discalced Religious of the Order of the glorious patriarch Francis, Pillar of the Church, the honor and glory of his native Italy, followed by the Brothers of Saint Dominic and of Saint Augustine, those that although sent late into the vineyard, have brought about great fruit for the Church, because not only did they pray for the great Evangelizer, but he has placed into their deeds all that he has taught them, serving the God of these noble subjects in the presence of those others that are of low estate and abject, in particular those who profess to be the Discalced Fathers of Saint Francis, and who follow in the way of the holy Evangelist, and who despise all temporal goods. 

            They preach with such efficacy, and freedom, that as a result the Japanese realized that they are trustworthy and wise, that what they said was in concord with the holy Evangelist:  since a people of such honor and doctrine, would not have exposed themselves to such extremely grave trials, or taken such duties upon themselves for the Faith, if they had not had a sure hope of the prize, and of rest:  one must bear in mind that someone who does not love earthly things, that they can achieve this only through works corresponding to doctrine.  One has already seen with great admiration that these aforesaid Religious place their lives in danger to preach the holy law of God, and authenticate the truth that they teach to the Gentiles, having made clear the example of constancy, and Christian fortitude, with the holy and glorious martyrdom of the first Martyrs:  whose blood has enriched the field of the Lord to such an extent that in the whole kingdom of Japan the truth of the Holy Evangelist was recognized, and the number of the faithful came to about 400,000. 

            After this glorious triumph of martyrs there entered into Japan a valorous soldier and Great Captain of Jesus Christ, named Father Luis Sotelo of the Order of Discalced Franciscans, a native of Seville, the Ambassador of this Embassy, which the King Daté Masamune King of Oshu sent, stimulated by the story of the martyrdom of Our Lord, (Sotelo) was spurred by that burning desire that kept him serving in that new vineyard of the Lord, without being a member of the people of his household, who through their nobility, and power were among the first knights of their native land, so that they did not impede his voyage, and disturb his holy thought when, in the year 1599, he embarked with other Religious of his order, who had come together to New Spain from Japan and the Philippines.  He found that these men were brought together by the Viceroy who had decided, as he said, to occupy himself with reading Theology. 

            But this not being his (Sotelo’s) vocation on earth, he could not find any rest, until he could get a license from the Viceroy, who was at that time the Count of Monterrey, to send him on his way, and sailing for some months reached the Philippines in safety, where the Governor was Don Francisco Tello, knight of Saint James, who was from the same city, Seville, who told him he could not cross over to Japan, saying that he himself was setting off for Spain and that he should come along with him, for it was very dangerous for him to enter Japan, following so closely on the glorious martyrdom of the Fathers, and that affairs of the faith were still fluctuating, although the great tyrant Tairosama was dead.  It was necessary for him to force himself to obey the Governor, spending his time in teaching and winning the favor of the Japanese, who came there to do business, and with the help of the Governor he made a Church, and a place where people from many nations could live together. 

            This same Governor gave authority to Father Sotelo, that all the dispatches and trade documents of the ships of Japan should pass through his hand, so that he became acquainted in this manner with the manners of the nation, so that returning to Japan they could report to the Shogun, and to the great Lords, the courtesy and good will that Father Sotelo had used.  Don Francisco Tello having died on the fifteenth of May (1602), Don Pedro d’Acugna Knight of Saint John succeeded to the governorship and on the twentieth of June, Father Sotelo set out for Japan.

            Having a good knowledge of the Secretary and other favorites of the Shogun, he was announced to his Majesty, to whom he was also pleasing, being presented as the aforementioned Father, sent in the name of the Governor of Manila, and he was received with the overwhelming support of the potentates and with the ostentation of greatness.  He applied to speak through the Secretary that he greatly valued the favors and services that he had rendered to his own vassals, making them large gifts of all necessary things, and above all providing them most freely with food and provisions.  Although at first he was laughed at and despised in a way for the poverty of his dress, so that some little boys and common folk threw stones and other dirt at him; nonetheless once he began speaking the Japanese tongue, that is in less than four months, he caused such amazement among his listeners because of the great difficulty and diversity of his vocabulary that he had at his command, and the great many different ways of speaking, depending on his audience, or the material that was discussed. 

            Not only did he begin to discuss our Holy Faith with the commoners but also with the King, the Lords and those with an inclination towards the natural sciences, astronomy, arithmetic, mathematics and towards natural and moral philosophy, succeeding the perfect understanding of the kinds of things they could not grasp because of holding erroneous principles, and realizing that they could not discover the causes which were shown by Padre Sotelo with clear demonstration, they came to concede that the world and the things in it were created entities, not eternal. 

            They became so convinced that they spread the word that they now recognized the humbleness and poverty of the Father as concealing great worth and learning; with which good opinion, and friendship having been obtained among them, the Father began to explain many things concerning faith:  the immortality of the soul, the first sin of man, the Incarnation and Redemption of Jesus Christ, persuading them that he had circled the globe to imitate the great Master of the evangelistic doctrine, to teach the way of salvation to the ignorant, and to impart the precepts that one should hold transitory things as of little worth.  The great amazement caused in those hearing these greatest secrets of Heaven, brought with it the great respect and love of the nobility and the common folk alike, endowing each with a certain eagerness to get into the good graces of the Father who was favored and honored by all so that not only was he helped in those ways pertaining to daily bread, but also they gave him certain charity for making Churches and Convents. 

            In four principal cities at the center of the Empire, he erected four convents, at Meaco (Kyoto/Miyako), Fuximi (Fushimi, near Kyoto), Vosaca (Osaka), and Sacai (Sakai), procuring Religious who were coming every year to the kingdoms to teach them the language and customs of Japan, and seeing that there were few foreign workers for gathering such a large harvest, he began to be reduced to using the sons of (local) Christians and to drill them in the necessary knowledge for the confutation of errors and to the preaching of the Catechism to the Infidels.  He translated the Catechism himself, and added much explanatory reasoning to the material, that concerned and in particular at the beginning, both the communion of the faithful and, of the authority of the Holy Church, and of its head the Vicar of Christ the Roman Pontiff, publicly preaching the Good News to Christians and the rudiments of faith to the Gentiles, something that at first no European had intended, and so great was the order and disposition of the Catechism, the force and the efficacy of the argument that the number was very small who, hearing them, did not yield themselves to the truth of the faith, and of Christian law, which by the grace and mercy of the Lord came to spread throughout the Islands in this way, so that the very ones baptized became preachers, saving through the same arguments that had convinced them, and women in the same way worked for the great growth of Christianity.

            He erected also hospitals in various parts, in which those of the lay Brothers who would not preach could busy themselves with the care of the sick, in order to follow the rule that Our Lord Jesus Christ taught to his own disciples, when he commanded them to preach:  Evangelizate pauperibus et curate infirmos, qui apud illos sunt.  [“Preach the good news to the poor and cure the sick who are among them.”]  From which there came to be a great incidence of growth in the holy faith among the people and it captured the good will of so many who received health of the body, and then that of the soul through holy baptism.  In fact, the door opened to Padre Sotelo of having friendship and communication with many Lords and Kings, to whom he had made himself known and had confessed the excellence and truth of our faith, and the sure way to salvation; and proved with the evidence of reason that the sects and knowledge of Japan were erroneous, and all inventions of the devil, and though through the antiquity and authority of Idolatry and through being enforced by these views they could not decide to leave them so quickly:  not through this did the Lords and those ruling there impede him, that the Christians should not adore the true God; some of them even permitted it, and encouraged the Good News to be preached.  From such communication there followed the destruction of many evil customs of the sort that offend God and those nearest to God, and in particular they might have made Churches so that their kingdoms could have had a multiplication of missionaries. 

            This same Padre Sotelo, seeing the barbarous customs that ruled in Japan, that when a king died, or Lord, their favorites and principal friends and followers were obliged through ancient observance to disembowel themselves with their own hands with a dagger, and die, saying that since the King was dead, it would not seem an honorable thing to remain in the world themselves who were beloved of him, and favorites.  This was disputed with the King of Quinocuni, Assano Daibut on these subjects and barbarous usages, and seeing that the King was convinced that these were customs against every law and intolerable among all the nations, and a great harm to the heirs of the dead man, for it was an insult to him, and there were those who would have liked to kill Padre Sotelo, but refrained from doing so knowing that he had the friendship of the Shogun. 

            A Doctor, finding himself in the dispute, wrote down all the arguments of the Father, and when the occasion offered, gave these to His Majesty, who considered such customs extremely bestial, said that it was not right, that this was so much beyond reason, through being an ancient custom, that it should not be observed any longer in Japan, and with a public edict prohibited this under very severe penalty and a disgrace to posterity and to their family, saying that no-one should dare to kill themselves as before, on the death of their Lords.  This prohibition, and other things of the sort that made resistance from the imperial orders unjust, made Padre Sotelo acquire great merit with the whole court of the Shogun, even though no one naturally could dare to speak of such things, that were observed on penalty of death, even though His Highness himself, the Kings and the Lords were held in great veneration, knowing them as men of heart, knowledge, and valor.

            This very Shogun wanted to send his ambassador to the King of Spain to bring about friendship and commerce, was dissuaded by other advisors, through saying that it was not lawful to impose his Embassy on a Father of such importance, exposing him to the dangers of such a vast expanse of sea sailing and land dangers, to which he responded that his God would help him to give a good report, and quickly respond. 

            So great was the love and respect in which the Father was commonly held, that extremely momentous negotiations were worked out through his own hand, and when he came preaching in various Kingdoms, there was such a crowd of people that ran to see him and who had heard of him through the fame that he had, that even the Bonzes themselves – or the Priests of the devils – paid their respects, and praised his speech and his mode of conversion.  Some of them, in fact, inspired by God, left their various sects and embraced the Holy Faith, and made themselves disciples of the Father, helping him to catechize the Gentiles, and to return them to the embrace of the Church.  Two Bonzes held to be Masters and learned in the sects were ordered by the Rector of Coya (Koya) to dispute with a native Christian, well instructed in the Catechism, who left their study after three hours, and after many disputations they left convinced, and after a few days were baptized. 

            But this so revolted their Rector, who wanted to burn down the Church, and the house where the Padre lived, along with the other Religious and Christians, and giving a great deal of money to two rascals to carry out this fire, God willed – who maintains the protection of his servants – that although during the day they had put a mark on the Church they were to burn, that night they could not find it though they looked around most of the night and searched the neighborhood.  Finally, day drew on, and they found themselves in front of the Church, and they recognized that God had removed their sight, and repenting of their bad intentions, they entered the Church, and hearing some sermons, converted to the Faith. 

            Many other persecutions, besides these, Padre Sotelo had escaped, retiring many times to the mountains, until God gave the grace to put an end to them, and returning to his works of conversion of the Gentiles and the salvation of the Faithful, in person and with letters, he gave great consolation and the spiritual refreshment of Christianity, that he brought along with him.  And as to refer to all these things would be a very long and tiresome thing for the Reader, in this way having written these few things it was my intent with brevity to give you a taste, and news in particular of the beginning and the success of the Embassy to Japan, that his most Reverend Father Luis Sotelo has brought safely to Our Father Pope Paul the Fifth in the name of the King of Oshu. 

            Even though I go doubtfully, that seeing the most reverend Father has imparted these few deeds from many noteworthy things that were done in Japan for the increase of our Holy Faith, it would be displeasing to me that I had made light of him, knowing the modesty and his wish to hold himself apart from these praises, that are considered common to people. 

            But considering that in virtuous works and in the miracles of our Holy Faith one might catch examples for imitation and occasions to praise our Lord, who with humble and lowly instruments works the greatest of marvels, I will content myself to remain patient to give additionally pleasure to the reader, who can certify, as does this preface, that all this following history that I have placed in the mouth of the aforesaid Father, and the company that came with the Embassy, and more clearly read in a License that the Papal Commissary General of the Indies gave them to come to Rome, I now find myself in Madrid, in the house of Donna Victoria Colonna, the mother to the Almirante of Castile for my particular business, in the company of Signor Don Bernardino Mariani the Secretary of the Holy Church and after having begged the privileges of his Catholic Majesty to print certain matters of state and political sensibilities higher than the Annals of Cornelius Tacitus, that I hope in the Lord will be quick, I had occasion to be of service to this Embassy as an interpreter and Narrator of how I did so with all fidelity, and abstaining from all personal interests, from Madrid up to Rome, having had no other end than the glory of God, the honor of the Holy Apostolic See, and the universal happiness of the Church and the whole Christian Republic.

CHAPTER I:  Of The Size And Fertility Of The Kingdom Of Oshu

The Kingdom of Oshu, one of sixty-six in Japan, is not only the largest of all, beyond any comparison, but is also contains more than one quarter of the principal Island that is among them commonly called Nifon, and by us others Japan.  This kingdom is placed at the end of the Island, on the East-North side.  The beginning of this kingdom is between 37-38º (North latitude) and it runs from West to East up to 43º (N.), containing in length 400 miles, and in width at its greatest breadth not quite 300.  Throughout the southern part it is all land of moderate temperatures, like that of Old Castile, but along the North sea the winter is extremely harsh, so that in many parts, the cities with populations both great and small, and the land remains covered in snow from the end of November up until April, without being able to see anything it contains.  It is certainly true that they enjoy four seasons like the rest of Japan.  And the land is very healthy and peaceful, and in the flatter areas extremely fertile and abundant in grain: barley, rice, and millet.  They tend almost all the same fruits as in Italy, and some in particular, nourishing and flavorful, that are not found in Europe. 

            They also possess a great supply of animals:  cattle, pigs, and wild boar, and other species, and above all Horses of a good breed, which are exported from this kingdom to the others, where they are held in great esteem as being the best in Japan.  There are all the sorts of birds: pheasants, quails, doves, turtledoves, and geese in this kingdom that come to be hunted, and fine falcons, that are used throughout all the Kingdoms of Japan, along with other strong and swift birds.  For the common sustenance a very little is needed, considering the great abundance and supply of workers that this Kingdom has, more than any other Kingdoms.  The coast enjoys excellent fish in great quantities, and of all the kinds that may be found among us.  It has many rivers and two in particular that are very large, of the sort that ordinarily contain trout and salmon.  One may also find there a fish that we without in the Mediterranean, called by them the Zuzuqui (Suzuki) and greatly esteemed, for being healthful and tasty. 

            This Kingdom contains many mines of gold, and of silver, and the rivers also give gold, making a certain earth, that the water carries like mustard seeds.  It also contains mines of copper, of lead, and of iron in great supply, and workmen form it with the greatest diligence, because the King imposes great duties upon it. It contains mountains full of all sorts of common as well as valuable timber, and in the above-mentioned Kingdom a great quantity is cut for making buildings in other Kingdoms.  One can find sal nitra in powder form, various sorts of oil, paper of many makes, linen wrappings, many good wines commonly made of rice, and most of all there are mines of the most resplendent crystal, strong, that can be made into entire columns. 

            The Kingdom is divided into many provinces, and all most populous, with big cities, castles, towns and villages, and throughout one finds farmers, and the land cultivated right up to the mountains, and everywhere there lives such a multitude of people that it seems impossible to count them.  Ordinarily the people are all bright, frank and sincere, with those who are likewise, and on the other hand they are shrewd and terrible if they recognize ill will or false-heartedness in those with whom they deal.  They are well-trained in weaponry, strong, and valorous in war, using all kinds of weapons and particular firearms, such as harquebuses, muskets, and artillery; and this is the reason that they are little interested in study and letters, even though they are a docile nation, and inclined to religion and adoration.  They are extremely polite and above all ceremonious.

CHAPTER II:  Of the Nobility and Antiquity of the House and Family of the King of Oshu

This Kingdom of Oshu, in the time when Japan was governed absolutely by the Dairi, who were natural and most ancient Kings, because it is so large, it was never held in governance by just one Viceroy but by many, divided into diverse provinces.  Having deprived the Daire of government, and temporal rule, the Viceroy, and general Captains of the army, usurped the Kings and through force of arms the Lords preserved themselves, as did the Tyrants of the Empire.  One of the Vice-Kings, who governed the Kingdom of Oshu, was called Findesira (Hidehira), whose name and family descended from the Cungi (Genji), who are lords of the blood and family of the Daire even coming from the first among all of them, the house that calls itself the Conoyendono (Konoe clan), substituting for the Daire in case he should die without sons. 

            This Hidehira rebelled at the same time as the others, in the 1570’s [incorrect.  See Glossary under Minamoto-no Yoritomo] and he was not content only to rule the provinces, but he declared war upon, destroyed and conquered all the other Viceroys, making himself in a short period of time Lord of all the Kingdom of Oshu, as an absolute King, not recognizing a higher.  Twenty-two years passed, in which Hidehira enjoyed the kingdom in peace, the principal leader of the rebellion of the army of Yoritomo having been killed, and he was to have come in person to give obedience to the Daire, who seemed not any longer to have the strength to hold his subjects and those obedient to other Viceroys, which had already usurped his authority, like natural Kings, not having an army, nor the power to hold the reins, and subject them.  For this reason he (the Daira) gave the investiture and the title of Warlord or Shogun to Yoritomo on the grounds that he could weaken those tyrants, fighting only to be recognized as a natural Lord, and respected as supreme Prince, and spiritual Head of State.

            Yoritomo having been made the new Shogun had another, younger brother, named Vxiuacandono (Yoshitsune) adopted by Hidehira the King of Oshu, before he had any heirs, and for this reason rejoicing in his good success, sent to him (Yoritomo) Ambassadors, so that they could share with him this pleasure, that he felt, and they could offer his friendship.  Later, he had children, and became himself old and decrepit, so that as a result he lacked the power and the will, strongly recommending to his legitimate and natural sons that they should preserve good relations with Yoshitsune, and that they should maintain relations with him as a brother in blood, when he himself should die.

            At first, the two legitimate sons treated him very much as an adopted son, but later they killed him, besieging him in a City where there was a huge army.  His death having been intended (all along), having been arranged by his brother Yoritomo the Shogun who denied having done so, and letting time pass without revenge, finally, when they (the two brothers) least expected it, assailing them unaware by treachery, under a mask of good words they (Yoritomo’s men) killed them (the two brothers). 

            After a little while Yoritomo the Shogun died, and knowing that his brothers were dead the head of the Cungi Conoyendono (Genji Konoe clan) in Miyako implored the Daira that he donate the ecclesiastical revenue which he took from that Kingdom, so that his lineage would not lose the protection of that powerful Kingdom of Oshu, and (to give) the vassals whom he possessed there to one other brother who was being cut off from this same family, and house, called Iamacangue Ciuscio (Yamakage Chusho) who suddenly took himself off to the aforementioned Kingdom of Oshu; and taking possession of those vassals, lands and revenues, wrote, and did many kindnesses for the Governors, and Captains from whom his uncle had received many favors and signs of honor. 

            After he saw that these were well received, and that he was well loved by them, he gathered an army and came to recover little by little the better part of the Kingdom.  After the death of his little son, he ended by winning it (all) and possessing it peacefully, and since that time in that region the Lords of that House have possessed it, with this difference, that after three hundred years he (a Lord) divided Kingdom, and having lost the better part of it, his son, seeking to distance himself from the quarrelsome and shameful conduct of his Father, changed the family name to Daté, which signifies nobility and vigor; and he made a different coat of arms.

            In all these changes and wars of Japan, the Lords of this Kingdom and of this House were always preserved, were greatly respected and feared, not only for being an ancient and noble family, but also for being valorous and powerful.  And the like is hardly to be found in these days of all those men about whom histories were made, and of whom memorable things were said that were worthy of mention.  None of those whom this noble house produced, however, will begin to measure up to the King who rules it today.

CHAPTER III: Of the Valor, Excellence, and Wealth of Daté Masamune, King of Oshu

The King Daté Masamune was forty-eight or forty-nine years of age (at the time of the arrival of Padre Sotelo in Rome), one of the most magnanimous of his blood, or better, in all Japan.  He had as much genius and great valor in arms, and the sort of things they do in Japan as he did in courage and gallantry.  He had never been bested in war, never taken, but always the conqueror.  He was always the first in attacks, or skirmishes, changing his garments and fighting as a regular soldier, and the heads of those famous warriors that he killed he had given to some of his soldiers so that they would bring them forward and get themselves rewards, which brought him great goodwill and courage among the soldiers.  He was known in Japan as the bravest soldier, if he happened to be at war, and in governing his tenure was very generous, and he made great use of regal fabrics, carrying himself with great pomp and majesty, being of the best family and of the Imperial House, and spending much more freely than His Majesty.

            When he went to Miyako he made merrier than when the Shogun himself came.  All the merchants and officials were cheerful, because in the two or three months that the King of Oshu had been there, they had earned more in that time than in all the rest of the year, because of the multitude of people that he had brought with him, and the many other Lords and Kings who had come to visit him, and to entertain him and for the great expenditure and extraordinary grandeur that went into feasting them and entertaining them.  He had 80,000 mercenaries in his army and enlisted men and other necessary people, and this army always stood ready for whatever presented itself, and without these he could raise in the countryside another 100,000 in case of great need; because in this Kingdom even the farmers bore arms and horses, keeping them handy for the necessary occasion.  And outside this Kingdom that these Kings of Oshu held, the Shoguns, to give them thanks and favor and homage, gave them also lands, admission and vassals in other parts of the Empire, which already extended from his own lands to the ends of Japan, all the way to Miyako where the Daire lived, and this because the King held the people who served him in perpetuity, and spent, without waiting for cash, those things that came from his Kingdom.

            This Shogun who rules today would not nor could have ruled had Daté Masamune not helped him, and defended him as a rear guard, coming up against two very powerful Kings Canguacatsu (Uesugi Kagekatsu) King of Zinano (Aizu) and Catsu Yafataquendono (Satake Yoshinobu) King of Sataque (Satake) and other princes confederated with these, who were conquered, broken, and destroyed by the aforesaid King in three battles that he had waged, and he had taken them from their cities and fortresses and kept them in restraint, without their going to get aid from other enemies of the Shogun outside of the army when he left to seek and conquer nearly all the Kings of the West, who had come against him. 

            For this favor and assistance the Shogun remained extremely obligated, giving him not only respect and preference among all the others, but also conspicuous affection and friendship, talking things over with him, and leaving him in charge of his own Kingdom, states, and even his own children, when they went to the Court of Miyako from Zorunga (Suruga).  It is well to know that after his death this King, who with a greater force and arms was able to attempt and attempted to enter to possess the Empire, it was this aforesaid Daté Masamune King of Oshu who had made with him the pact which the past Shogun had made with him, making his son his son-in-law, because his own family and House had been preserved and was increasing; in this way, the present Shogun, called Minamoto Yeas (Minamoto Ieyasu) by name, had married off one of his own sons, and a daughter, to a daughter and a son of the King of Oshu, planning with this marriage to take care of those who would come after his death.

            When Padre Brother Luis Sotelo heard tell of this great Lord and powerful King, and having seen something of his appearance and his palaces, that were the richest, and largest in all Miyako or Fuximi, he desired very much to meet him, and to converse with His Majesty; and given that he had friendship with the Shogun and with other Kings, and Lords, and under their protection had built various Convents and Churches, it seemed to him that if he didn’t win over such a Prince, Christianity would not be able to grow as much as he would like it to, and now he was finally able to do so, after a space of seven years, although the great richness and grandeur of the King and the poverty and humbleness of the Padre were so different and distant from one another, and he would not have followed this course had he not always commended himself to Our Lord, and asked Him whether out of His Mercy He would be pleased to assist their friendship in this way and in this wise.

CHAPTER IV:  How Padre Brother Luis Sotelo Acquired the Friendship and Communication with the King of Oshu at the Court of Edo

Daté Masamune the King of Oshu was staying in the court of the Prince, the son of the Shogun, and brother of his son-in-law, taking his pleasure and enjoyment through the city of Iendo (Edo, later Tokyo) of great population, capital of the eight kingdoms of Quanto (Kanto), whence no other Priests of the Brothers of Saint Francis had ever penetrated, and where was his chief Church and Convent, and where he lived with public license from the Shogun and of his son the Prince, and where much Christianity was already found.  At this time there fell ill a concubine of the aforesaid King, whom he esteemed especially dearly as she was a foreigner and King Masamune – after she had been treated by the best doctors of the Court and remained just as ill as ever – hearing tell that the Franciscan Fathers had a hospital in one of their Churches and a Religious who treated all sorts of diseases there, and that all those patients who came there to be treated and in particular the wife of his greater Steward was made well, and had been treated by this same Lay Brother, called Brother Peter de Burguillos, very praiseworthy and a friend of God, sent to speak to Padre Sotelo, because as the Superior and Commissioner of his Order, he should order the aforesaid lay brother that he should come and cure the ill concubine, mentioned above. 

            The Religious came, and treating the illness it pleased God to bring her back to health, so that the King was much cheered, and he remained much obliged for this favor and this pleasure given by means of Padre Sotelo, so that he ordered sent to him bars of gold and silver, clothes and pieces of silk.  But the Padre refused the gifts, saying that the Religious cared not for gain, but only for the love of God, nor did it sit well with the wearing of their habit and with their Religion, to take gold, nor silver, nor other things of this world, beyond that which was needed to teach about the sure Way of salvation to those ignorant of it. 

            Concerning this the King remained much amazed, so that he wanted to see Padre Sotelo and the Brother Doctor, who were to visit him, taking – as was the custom – a present as a sign of respect and recognition of the importance of the King:  there were fifty cloths, thirty candles of white wax, three pounds of cloves and another three of pepper.  The King received the gift in the Royal Hall, with great Pomp and company, and it cheered him that Padre Sotelo knew his language, and he asked him various questions: What our land was like, what our laws and religion were like, and he was above all amazed at the answers that he gave, and he gave orders for a meal to be prepared, and the King gave a toast as was his custom, as a sign of great courtesy and the greatest that they could give, particularly the King and those Lords and other equals. 

            Already the King was prepared to travel back to the Kingdom of Oshu, and the Padre asked permission to visit him there; the King was delighted with this request of the Padre, and said that he could go freely, and he would be happy to see him, and in his permission the King gave the order that one of his knights should accompany him until he left the Palace with many knights and nobles of his household.

CHAPTER V:  How Padre Sotelo was at the Kingdom of Oshu, Received by the King, and Invited to Dine at the Palace

Being that King Daté Masamune had already set out for the Kingdom of Oshu, Padre Sotelo set in order his Christian community as best he could, and handed it over to one who knew how to manage it, leaving in this way in the Convent two Priests, so that he could travel to find the King and visit him, but first going around through various Kingdoms and parts where there were Christians, to confess them, and to instruct them in the faith, and baptize them with their wives and children, in which task he did not let up, bringing many others into our Holy Faith.

            The Padre arrived in the aforesaid Kingdom, where he was the first priest who had entered praying, the Holy Gospel not having been proclaimed by any religious person before that hour, until God through his great Mercy had safely conducted there the Padre.  As soon as the King knew that the Padre had come, he ordered that if there was an empty Church of the Bonzes (or priests of the infidels) for him to lodge himself in, the Religious should use it, with further orders to many servants and ministers that they should prepare and provide all things necessary with great dispatch and abundance.

            Now, the King was about to venture forth to go on a certain hunt, and before he left he had ordered that those Grandees should entertain him and meet with him every day one by one until His Majesty return so that he could do so in a meritorious and seemly way.  People came on foot and on horseback for two days, continuously coming and going from his bedroom.  Having returned from the hunt, he went immediately to join the Padre, and he asked him to eat with him. 

            The following day, carrying with him to the Palace three glasses and some flavored breads of the sort His Majesty liked, showing that he was pleased with his visit and for all the trouble he had taken, the King, seeing that the Padre was being modest and circumspect in what he ate, refusing the more regal dishes of the feast, curious to know why, he asked the Padre why he ate the fish, and left off eating the meat.  To which responding with much reverence and self-effacement, he took the occasion to say that before the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ there is a fast of fifty-three days, called Advent, practiced by his Religious in honor and gratitude of his infinite mercy and generosity that God showed to the descendants of our first father Adam, causing to be made flesh his own son for our redemption, and that the Religious of Saint Francis in that time not only fasted and abstained from meat and dairy products but also mortified the flesh with other penitentiary exercises.

            At the point when the King heard this extremely deep principle, he was curious to know how and when was this prodigious event of the coming of Christ into the world, and replying the Padre said that this was an ineffable mystery and the greatest secret of Heaven, that could not be demonstrated without doctrinal order, and without first hearing many sermon, as the necessary means to allow the intellect to grasp with the small light of reason the consequences and the marvelous works of the omnipotence of God.

            The King responded that having gained the impression some years before that in Europe in particular the rule of God was set forth, all according to reason, and not having had any means to hear about it, it would be extremely gratifying if the Padre would consent to throw some light upon these laws and set forth the way that would seem to join to facilitate the understanding and to augment the pleasure of the soul, who carried out that which was so long denied. 

            The feast having ended on this holy proposition, the Padre held up to his Divine Majesty the perseverance of the King and his own weakness, so that he would give them both the Spirit and the efficacy to enable him to awaken from the profound darkness in which he lay and with the light of the Holy Faith illumine him with all the mysteries of the Church.  The King set the day, in which it pleased him to hear the sermons, and it was the eighteenth of November, a mysterious day, because the Church celebrated the dedication of the Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul; God foreseeing that, as on this day Christianity had begun to sprout and grow, and the new Church in Japan, as it began in Rome.

CHAPTER VI:  How Padre Sotelo Gave Many Sermons to the King Before the Catechism

The hour was set, and the hearing most convenient to the King; the Padre entered the Royal Presence, and in the name of the Lord of Heaven and Earth, be began to give the beginning of the declaration of the Catechism, proving with the unshakeable evidence of reason that the world was not eternal but created, and its beginning was the true God, Creator of the universe and eternal Father of all the things he had brought forth; the Bonzes of Japan were deceiving themselves when they denied the providence of God and the immortality of the soul and they weaken themselves in their schools to persuade themselves that Amida, Iaca (Yaka), Camis (Kamis) and Hotokes, who died like everyone else condemned to Hell as the limbs of Satan, were Directors of the world, and the lords of another life.

            Upon which the King putting certain questions, and the Padre responding with great clarity the doctrine and the natural examples to show the infinite power and eternity of God, and of the falseness and emptiness that he had ascribed to the Gods of Japan.  Passing then to the second and third articles, in which is proven the immortality of the soul, the creation of the Angels and the fall of Lucifer, it was necessary to believe and confess after many arguments and doubts uprooted by the Padre and proposed by the King, that he had another perpetual life, in which the souls of those that in this life have believed in God and observed his holy law, come to enjoy the glory of Heaven, and those who have not followed this road of salvation and eternal life would be condemned to Hell. 

            In the fourth he set forth the creation of Man and his sin transmitted to his offspring, concluding that the devil, desirous of being worshipped on earth as God was in Heaven, began to persuade men blind to their sin and ignorant of their own good, that they should adore him and serve him in the figures of statues and likenesses of men, that various heroic actions were honored on earth, as were in Japan Kami and Hotoke, Yaka and Amida, and in Greece Jove and Bacchus, in Italy Saturn and Janus, giving to each one the title of Deity, according to his own deceptive conceit or benefit that he imagined to have received from him, and all this through the craftiness and malice of the Devil, who had always managed to keep human intention in the dark, because it didn’t know its Creator nor adore him as its ultimate end.  That the worship of the Sun and the Moon and of the Stars is truly a diabolical deception:  because as inanimate objects and corporeal, they have no power over the soul, and the free will of man, nor any power over the lucky or unlucky happenings of life; because they have no other action of their own, nor movements nor influences than that which God had ordered.  That all types of sins, of the sort that offend God, are the inventions of the Devil, that orders war, and that women are continually a discord in human nature, which is in itself depraved and obstinate in evil even inclined to sin, was destroyed in the Flood, repopulated by the holy man Noah, a friend of God, along with his family, so that the human race be preserved.  But the human race having grown, and evil along with it, and sin, God chose as the head of the people who adored him Abram, a perfect Prince and his friend, by whose mediation was instituted the means of recognizing and adoring the same God through Circumcision and sacrifices, to which with various mysteries and prophetic figures God promised to make human the Eternal Wisdom of his Son Christ Our Lord; because the infinity of the offenses that man had made against God would be paid for with the infinite power of the merits of Christ His only and eternal Son, for no other creature with finite works could satisfy the eternal Majesty of God, who is without beginning or end. 

            The fifth sermon following with delight, both pleasure on the part of the royal soul, and the extreme content of the Padre who saw that he had been favored by divine help, which had made the will of the King persuaded and made able to understand the figures and the prophecies that through the Holy Prophets had announced the coming of the Messiah, to redeem humankind and exalt it to the eternal peace of glory, the Padre not omitting to mention minutely the purity of the Holiest Madonna Virgin Mary, our lady in the conception of the Son of God in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, as also the holy life, miracles, and prayer of Christ.

            In the sixth he entered into the recognition of the end, of the cause, of his holiest death and passion, of the mystery of the Cross, of the destruction of Sin, the freedom of human nature out of the prison of the devil, proceeding in methodical order from the resurrection, ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit and other mysteries touching on this subject.  In the seventh he treated on the merit or demerit of our actions; of the prizes and of the punishments prepared in the other life for the good and for the evil, representing with great fear the Universal Judgment and the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, the glory of the Saints and the eternal punishment in hell.  In the last he treated of the intervention of the Saints, of the institution, authority and power of the holy Roman Catholic Church and its universal head Saint Peter and his successors, and he concluded with the observance of the Ten Commandments properly to serve God.

CHAPTER VII:  How the King of Oshu Confessed That the Laws of God Are Holy and Good

The history and doctrine of Christianity having been heard of in various times, the King, satisfied and convinced of the reasons and answers that the Padre gave to his many doubts that he had proposed in favor of the Bonzes and of the seven gods of Japan, touched by an inward divine fire, and illumined by its helpful light, that God spreads, when he saw that the sermons were done, he gave thanks to the Divine Majesty and to the Padre together, that they had made him to understand with the light of faith the deceit with which the devil had made himself appealing:  attesting with a true confession and inward sadness of his past life that he had not known the excellence of this admirable doctrine so consonant with natural light and contradicting the vain superstitions of Japan he could not nor would not as one who called himself a creature of reason, devoted to the power of the soul, because he did not know its own beginning, middle, and end. 

            “And like a beast seeing the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars of Heaven had remained content without knowing who had produced such a variety of ornaments and for what end these things of the World were made.  Thus His Royal Majesty and the others of Japan were like a horse, seeing and enjoying the decoration of Heaven and of the Earth, without attending to the infinite power of the Maker and penetrating its secrets that are enclosed in them.  And if it be necessary that Man distinguish himself from the beasts through his natural reason, that he possesses, it is much more important that he recognize the eternal principle that is the God of the Christians, and that by means of adoring Him and serving Him with His favor and thanks the immortal soul created for Heaven be different from those that do not recognize God nor rejoicing in the merits of Jesus Christ are damned eternally. 

            “Because of these comparisons,” said the King, “today I have begun to be human, and understand dignity and nobility and I conceive at the same time a great indignation and hatred against Yaka and Amida and Cobadagin (Kobo Daiichi), Itangiafir (Nichiren?), Daruma and other teachers of lies who with such falsity and ignorance want to make human and beasts on the same level, and leave them without happiness, and rest, even the worst of them, because even the beasts get that in this life, but humans neither in this life nor the next, and so I have decided to buy myself back from them and so arrange it that all should know this truth that I confess.”

CHAPTER VIII:  How the King Published an Edict, That the Laws of God Be Preached and That His Entire Kingdom Be Baptized

Not considering proprieties, as his Royal Majesty was thinking already of the special privilege of Heaven, the infinite power of eternal God as the author and creator of all the workings of the world, who governs and orders all things visible and invisible, and considering that the understanding, and the revelation of mysteries and secrets of such great importance, those very things that might have been hidden from his vassals, obliged through the fetters of the laws to profess the cult of their King, and in his position as head of the body politic he resolved to publish with determined deliberation and more than ordinary solemnity, that all those vassals of whichever class, age or condition should be consecrated as Christians with holy baptism, as a master key which opens Heaven, and manifests the treasure of the Church, leaving altogether the superstitious cult of Idols, and the false doctrines of the Bonzes, (who were) confederates of the Devil.

            With which holy resolution he ordered brought to him the aforementioned Padre and said to him: “These things have caused me great sadness, that you have told me, because I am walking in the middle of the light without being able to enjoy it, and without a doubt I would like to become a Christian, if I didn’t know that it would bring down on me the hatred of my family and friends, and it would be impossible for me to ascend to the Empire.  That which I can do without having it myself I will do, adoring God from this day in the first place, and seeing to it that all my vassals become Christians for me, because God will not hold it against me, that I am not baptized.”

            And the Padre, seeing that he wanted to baptize his vassals through the force of Edict, persuaded the King, that the sacrament of Baptism was to be taken voluntarily, nor was the true Word to be received violently, and the effect of the sacrament, therefore, was to be pondered with mature reflection, through a new edict, that the law of God, and of the holy Evangelist would be preached and explicated, fixing the notice to the gate of the Palace, even (here) in the royal audience chamber itself, on 23 November, 1611.  And he continued to preach the holy law of God in his Kingdom, to make Christians of them, whoever wanted to receive holy Baptism.

            But the King, being anxious that he should plant a tree that would bear fruit in eternal life, and should sow the seed of the true Gospel in Japan, and that there not remain a shadow, nor a vestige of the vain superstitions of the sects, with the perpetual purgatory of the Bonzes, turned to ask the Padre with great fondness what course he should follow, so that without much delay all his Kingdom should profess the law of Christ, and be reborn in the water of Holy Baptism, to render them fit for the immortality of the next life.  The Padre, speaking in reply, said that he should reward with dignity and with royal honors those who made themselves Christians, and at the same time pour contempt upon and publicly vilify the Idols, Kamis, and Hotokes.  The King, having gathered what he wanted to know through this particular questioning, and to everyone who conformed to his condition, he gave gifts and the principal honors of the Kingdom, so that invited by this benevolence and liberality, all the others would come voluntarily and enter the capacious embrace of the Church, and train themselves in all of the expected articles of faith and for divine worship. 

            He took this to such an extreme that, knowing that certain falcon-trappers were Christians, he took off the selfsame clothes that his royal Person was wearing, and divided them among the three trappers before the great body of nobles that stood in his presence, and said that whoever is a Christian and has such a beautiful soul, should be dressed appropriately in royal robes, without which they might be offended.  These actions so powerfully moved the hearts of the community that they could not now enter the little Church, which had been built, unless they came early in the morning, or waited for a long time.

CHAPTER IX:  How the King Ordered That a House for the Adoration of Idols Be Leveled

After the King had with premeditated plan manifested his express will and holy intention that he held, that the laws of God be impressed upon the hearts of the people, inspired by God to carry out this holy enterprise, coming to amuse himself in the city of Xandai (Sendai), fifteen miles from the court, which, for the magnificence of the buildings and the amenities of the site was the most outstanding of all, having a river joined to it in which one could catch a great abundance of trout, and he, travelling to the fishing party he had ordered, had occasion to see the great Maitxuxima (Matsushima) one of the seven houses of adoration of Japan, like our Lady of Monserrat in Catalonia and Our Lady of the Marca of Ancona (Loreto); to which congregated an infinite number of pilgrims seeking the good will of their gods and to ask pardon for their sins.  The house was certainly of great capacity, decoration and richness, for the many Bonzes and the countless number of stone statues of the sort idolized by those of the Gentiles born in error with many ceremonies and with various manners of continual worship.

            And when one of the pilgrims did not cleanse themselves before coming or with obsequious intention and reverence singing to the statues, God permitted that the Devil avenge himself with aggravations and castigations:  thus the fear of the pilgrims had grown so great that no one omitted to carry out punctually the observations of their ceremonies.  The King, indignant at the obsequy – that a rational creature should give to his eternal creator and who had brought forth the world out of nothing – should continue nevertheless to the Idols and to the deaf, mute, and blind statues; and that the Devil had triumphed over the souls of Japan, calling upon God in a very loud voice, that he should “help to destroy a sect so long devoted to the Devil and in this holy enterprise show that he was the God of Pharaoh,” with intrepid ardor, aflame with holy zeal and bereft of fear and of the respect that he had once felt for the Fotoques (Hotokes), adored for so many centuries past, commanded under pain of lèse majesté from the greatest multitude of people destined to ordinary service in the guards and in war, that without any resistance or reluctance they were to profane this house of adoration, to insult the Idols, to lay low their altars, cut off their heads, lay bare their bodies.

            Thereupon, with all sorts of aggravation and of opprobrium, they mocked the Amida, and the Yaka, made fun of the Kamis and the Hotokes, protesting to them that if they had the power to protect themselves from these insults, as they had for centuries fooled Japan into thinking they could, and they should avenge themselves for being laid low, and for the violation of their bodies.  All eight hundred idols of stone in this way lost respect, and some of them of extraordinary size, having been set inside the house, always having been adored for a thousand eight hundred years, part they threw into the sea part into the river, and part onto the earth, crying with a great acclamation,

            “Long live the God of the Christians, omnipotent over all the gods of Japan!” and continued to be amazed that no retribution rained down on them from their having helped so intrepidly in the destruction of the House, that the Hotokes had not grown angry or revenged themselves, what with the harsh severity of their punishments, and their beatings.  Following this massacre of so many demons the King, victorious and triumphant with the Shield of Faith, prayed that the Padre should come there in person to observe the very great miracle of his God and see the great fall made by the Idols, the profanation of the temple and the flight of the demons.

            Carrying out the royal command, he found an infinity of pieces of statues on the ground and the people, who had confessed that the might of the King was greater than the deity of Amida or of Yaka and that the King, holding the realization of the true God of the Christians held dominion over all the forces, even of the demons of the pit.  About this the Padre was especially happy, and confirming them in the Faith and in the observance of the Royal edict, he promised to teach them in the Christian doctrine, in conformance with his desire, that they show that they know the true road to the other life, and that returning to the King with very welcome news, they congratulated each other on their victory, and gave infinite thanks to His Divine Majesty, who had favored his cause and had authenticated in the Royal soul the truth of the holy Christian faith. 

            Another time in one very famous Church, he commanded that their Bonzes do the same, and their refusing to lose the respect of the Idols insulted the King, who ordered that it be burned down along with the Bonzes, and the executor of the Royal commandment was the present Ambassador Don Filippo Faxicuna (Hasekura), who had been captain of the royal guard of 4000 harquebusiers making it come down to the ground in flames, and out of compassion for the Bonzes, he cut off their heads so they would not be burned alive in the fire.  One aged Bonze, meeting with the King with an indulgence tablet because he ought to revere it as he himself did, ordered that it be posted overhead, which order having been heard by a halberdier, he (the soldier) penetrated his brain with it, posting it upon him (the old man) with a big rock.  For this reason the principal lords were moved to hear our law and were baptized.

CHAPTER X:  How Many People Were Baptized in the Kingdom, Seeing the Destruction of the Idols

The fallacy of the sects having been recognized, the impotence of the Idols and the infinite power of the God of the Christians though these actions of their King, there burned such ardor for the Faith in the breasts of the Japanese that with incredible attention they heard the Gospel doctrine preached and with great emulation they sought holy baptism; in this way the Padre and three other Japanese priests tirelessly devoted themselves day and night to catechize and to baptize great numbers of people, giving glory to God all together with great signs of tears and of spiritual joy, so that in this Kingdom there began to be manifest the light of the Gospel and to take a certain hope in salvation.

            The King, seeing a notable growth in the faithful, because they were able to congregate for doing the things needed for the faith, wanted very much to build Churches, Convents, and Oratories, but the Padre pointed out that there were not enough Priests and one could not raise Churches without Ministers and workers of the Church.  About which the King regretted very much, being unable because of this lack to found superb houses and Churches worthy of his royal grandeur and honor and glory to the most omnipotent God that had illuminated him, even if the Christians made two little churches to meet in.  And, requesting many times for a remedy from the Padre, he proposed that Christianity has a head, that is the Vicar of Christ, the Highest Roman Pontiff, Father, and Universal Shepherd of the Church, whose was absolutely the spiritual governance of the Church, the growth of the faith, and the free disposition of the Ecclesiastical state in all the Kingdoms of the World, and in particular in those in which the Catholic faith was beginning to be propagated.

            The King demanded that a voyage be made to invite an Embassy and making him aware of this route, he determined that Padre Sotelo himself would go to render his Holiness obedience as informed by his thinkers of the disposition, state, and being of this Kingdom, saying that if the Padre had not come, the Embassy would not have had such good success.  And even the Padre’s absence would be a loss to that Christianity and the new vine:  all the same having confided in the Lord that had carried him into his Kingdom, he would have the grace to bring him back to the same place with a great company of the sort of men to make everybody Christians.

            The King insisting on this, the Padre could not reply, not wanting to speak against this just zeal, to take him to the Holy See, though he was too weak for this service to His Divine Majesty and of the King who begged him to come.  The King was overjoyed; commanding immediately of these officials and his followers that they follow the orders that Padre Sotelo would tell them, and to spare no expense to provide what was needed for the voyage, and for the dignity of the Embassy.

CHAPTER XI:  Of the Return That Padre Sotelo Made from the Court of Oshu to the Court of the Shogun and the Causes He Had to Return

On this occasion it was necessary to interrupt the order of business and return to the Court of the Shogun because the Dutch had come with an embassy of Count Maurice to the Shogun asking for confederation and treaty, with offers of Pilots, artillery, navigation devices, so that they would give them ships and maritime supplies to make themselves lords of all East and West India, thinking that this would be a reachable, even easy goal with their small force, if the King were to take part in these things; so much the more if he were a tyrant, because he would send away from the Kings the foreign clergy, who make many polite Christians and then subject them, and tyrannize them as they had done in new Spain, Peru, and other parts; saying other things in contempt of the Clergy.

            But opposing himself to this proposal Padre Sotelo in his best manner, if at all possible, would see to it that, as a favorite of the Shogun be kept informed who these people were, and what they were up to with such clear demonstrations that these selfsame Dutchmen would confess, and those of the Imperial council would remain in the same capacity and to persuade them that the friendship of a Catholic King was best, who did not have rebel vassals who did not rob one another and act as pirates.

            And so the Shogun decided to send the Padre to the King of Spain to take this communication to its conclusion, and treat with his Kingdom in the Philippines and New Spain, commanding whether they could build a ship, considered by the King of Oshu and advised by the Padre that since his own Ambassador could not come in any other ship, if his Fatherliness would be content also to make his embassy and if two soldiers could act as his servants, to make sure of his truthfulness.  Just so it was concluded, and he embarked with them in the year 1612, on the evening of Saint Francis’ Day (October 4), with the two ambassadors, and that same night that they left port, the ship broke up on a reef and was split into many parts, with the loss of just one man, for the others, thanks to God, were spared.

            This sinister accident was reported to the King of Oshu, and he went out to talk with the Padre that he should cheer up about this, and he quickly sent into the Kingdom of Oshu three Japanese priests who went off into various provinces and each one of them made great progress, and they converted many Gentiles who, with the doctrine and good example of these catechizing preachers, with the spiritual books that they carried, translated into Japanese language and characters and with the letters that the Padre himself had written when he could not come to visit them himself, caught up in grave negotiations that were on his hands in the Court of the Prince, son of the Shogun, whom they had converted into such a furor of Christian devotion that his everyday life was more that of a monk than of a secular man.

            Court members wrote to the Padre that they were keeping the Catechism, the exercise of prayer, the discipline of mortifications, and fasting.  And among many other things, that there had been baptized a Japanese man of great wealth, and his wife with him, who had both made a vow of chastity, and knowing that Our Lord was crucified for our redemption, they made their wills, freeing all their slaves, spent their goods in pious works, and, buying some grand silken robes and two crosses they put it forth throughout the city at the sound of the trumpet that Peter Catai and Luisa his wife through recognition and obligation that Jesus Christ their redeemer had been put on the cross for them, the following day they were put on a cross and died, lanced by a slave.

            Having heard this news from other Christians, they went to their catechizing Priest to make him aware of it, and he went out to teach them what they should do, and knowing that they were deceived, they came on Sunday to confess their error before the Christians, and they did not want to return to getting nothing, contenting themselves with the pay of their work.  Generally the Christian in this Kingdom were devoted and fervent and gave an example of goodness to every place they travelled and in particular those of Oshu were so afraid to commit a mortal sin or to offend God with transgression of the commandments that they would sooner let themselves be martyred 1000 times rather than consent to an offense to God.

CHAPTER XII:  Of the Persecutions That Came of the Discord of the Christian Nobles and Leaders Born in Japan, and How the King of Oshu and Padre Sotelo Returned to the Court of the Prince and What They Established Between Themselves

The invidious Devil, seeing what he was losing with this conversion, stirred up anger between Don Paul Dayfachi, vice-secretary to the Shogun and Don John, King of Arima – both of them Christians – and such envy arose that one discovered the dishonesty and treason of the other, that was known to the Shogun, doing justice to them, and although he had had good credit among the Christians, on this occasion he lost it, and had it in mind that he wanted to move war against them, but then he softened, contenting himself with throwing out of the Palace all those who might be Christians, ordering that some go into exile on an island were the delinquent men of Japan were sent, causing even one of his concubines, before she became Christian, and did the same to fourteen Christian nobles and important personages, relieving them of their earnings and possessions, ordering that throughout all his kingdom that no-one be allowed to give them shelter, nor horses, nor food beyond that for one day; because in this way they became vagabonds through all Japan, as an example of which some Lords did the same with their Christian servants and the Prince sent into exile from the Court of Edo all the Christians that were staying there and even the Religious of Saint Francis other than Padre Sotelo, who remained with his license, which already sent him off to Spain, as the time had come.

            The pain and suffering that this banishment produced, which saw fathers abandon children and wives, without knowing where they went nor carrying anything to eat on the journey, only Padre Sotelo knew fully and the Religious who left along with the Christians, who said that if they have no recourse to charity they would die along the road, in the middle of this persecution which was not seeking their martyrdom or an effusion of blood out of respect for the Shogun. 

            The Prince the son of the Shogun who was already governing the Empire, invited the King of Oshu his father-in-law to a falcon hunt and on this occasion came to the Court.  He was very happy to see the Padre and came to tell him that he had made him another ship, so that he could go on the embassy decently, in conformance with his grandeur.  He had made this resolution, ordered that a ship be made ready without delay:  he had taken into service 800 carpenters, 700 smiths, and 3000 serving men who together would finish the work of the ship in 45 days and with the same brevity they would provide all things necessary for the offering, and in getting supplies for the journey. 

            He declared and nominated as Ambassador Faxecuna Rokuemon (Hasekura Rokuemon) a very noble knight and of a very ancient house, whose progenitors had come from Miyako (Kyoto) with Iamacangue Chiuso (Yamakage Chusho) when he returned to take the Kingdom of Oshu, as said above.  He was lord of villas and lands, Captain of the harquebusiers of the guard of the King, a man of great prudence and nobility who like the King had gained experience in the business of war as much in that of the State, and in comportment and style, which he passed on to the whole Court. 

            Much depended on this choice and for all the tremendous approval there were also those who envied his good fortune.  The King ordered that his wife and children should come from the Court to the City with his servants and because they were living near the City entrance, and their servants also, he gave them a villa and the two groups were three miles from the Court, where they could stay if they pleased, so did the King arrange it, because it put the Ambassador more at ease.

CHAPTER XIII:  Of the Persecutions That the Prince in Edo Set in Motion; Of the Illustrious Martyrdom of 28 Japanese Christians; Of the Imprisonment, Condemnation to Death, and Liberation of Padre Sotelo

Being now sent from the Court of the Shogun and of that of his son the Prince, Padre Luis Sotelo was on the journey to the Kingdom of Oshu in order to embark on that ship in company with that Ambassador when there was begun a persecution against the Christians on the 21 July, 1613.  By the order of the Prince the elder son of the Shogun in his own Court at Edo through the evil persuasions of the Bonzes and through envy, seeing that they were losing great numbers of their parishioners and followers; and through one Church and Cemetery having been made to bury Christians, because there were 1600 of those that were there, not counting many others who had left the City, and had not returned.

            As the others returned one more time, others hid them without being recognized and going there the aforementioned Padre with a sedan-chair (seggetta) for the prisons, and confessing them and cheering their spirits, even taking them some charity in the form of food and provisions; because besides tortures they suffered extreme deprivation, although they suffered with great constancy and did not leave their faith.

            Very soon, the Padre also received from the Merchants a goodly sum of silver and gold for charity and to help the needs of the incarcerated Christians and their wives and children.  The Prince, having heard from his council that the Padre had done this, wrote to tell him to embark at once, but the Padre answered that it was not seemly for a good father to leave his children in such suffering.  The Prince, when this was reported to him, ordered that he must immediately leave the Court and embark, and the Padre replying in the same manner, the Prince took great offense, and gave the order that he was to be imprisoned and that around the house where he lived there should be placed a large guard, declaring him a delinquent and accused of crimes against lèse majesté on three counts, first, for not carrying out the Embassy with which the Prince and the Shogun had charged him, to treat of peace and alliance with the King of Spain. Second, that he had not obeyed his directive to leave the Court quickly and third, that he had persuaded the Christians not to obey his orders, and that this was like a rebellion of vassals against the Prince and so he wanted the Padre to justify himself.

            To the first he responded that he very much esteemed his Embassy, but that he had not yet had time to make the voyage, and that he would see the end of his spiritual children, and then afterwards to go.  To the second that he had ordered something that was against the laws of nature, to abandon his children on this occasion when they would seem to die of hunger, and that on this basis he was not obliged to obey him.  To the third, that since his Highness had ordered the Christians to leave the laws of Christ and take up those of Japan; something that he could not do, as he did not have that jurisdiction over him, holding only that of the temporal of this life, because in eternity the Lord alone holds power over the whole earth, to whom the Padre was a lowly slave, and minister, and to whom he would do a great injury; and so not only had he not done wrong in resisting his order as unjust, but he must actually oppose it, even if it meant his own death.

            The Prince heard this reply with great perturbation and he commanded that all male Christians of three years old or older who would not give up their laws and follow those of Japan would be decapitated, and that Padre Sotelo with his catechizing preachers be burnt alive.  He began to have his order carried out and on 16 August it fell to eight of the Majordomos of the Confraternity to be decapitated and on 17 August they cut the heads off of fourteen soldiers and then came the order that the Padre and his Priests that he had with him should be martyred, and the bundle of wood was already standing ready, and many people had gathered to see the cruel spectacle, when a courier arrived from the King of Oshu, that he had learned of the case very late, and asking the Prince the brother of his son-in-law if he would show mercy to Padre Sotelo and send him to Oshu, because it was time to send the ship and the Embassy, and that he should not show such harshness to the Christians, because they were good people.

            The Prince read the letter quickly and set the Padre free, only decapitating the Preachers, and the others who remained he gave their freedom; God allowing that on the same day that they had been to burn there occurred a disagreement between certain Bonzes and lay people so that three Bonzes were left dead in their own Church and some of themselves, and because the case was under consideration, and all the law courts in the City recognized the crime and the homicide and left off the sentence against the Padre and beyond that there had occurred the death of the daughter of the President of the Council in the same city and the law courts suspended activities for a few days in the obsequies of the funeral and due to these delays the King of Oshu had had time to send a courier, because it took him that long to hear of the sentence against Padre Sotelo.

CHAPTER XIV:  How After the Freeing of Padre Sotelo He Again Returns to the Kingdom of Oshu, and What Happened to Him There

On the same day that liberty was given to Padre Sotelo, that was six days after the courier had come from the King of Oshu, there arrived in Edo Padre Brother Ignatio di Gesu, priest in the same order, leaving from Nangazaki (Nagasaki) the city of the Christians, where the Bishop resided and the Fathers of the Company with their heads tonsured but in Japanese clothing, in order to help Padre Sotelo, having the intent that they be incarcerated with all those Christians in order to pray with them and hear confessions in the Holy Faith.  And having walked 1500 miles, they arrived as God willed it two hours after Padre Sotelo had been given his freedom, so that they returned to give a letter to the Council of the Prince and they finally sent him off for the Kingdom of Oshu on 25 September.

            The King had been very depressed, suspecting that the letter had arrived too late and found the Padre already martyred, and to remedy this, knowing he had staying at his court another Religious of the same Order, called Brother Diego Ibagnes, who had come to embark on the same ship of Masamune for New Spain and would have sent him if the Prince had burned Padre Sotelo and killed the Christians in his Kingdom, he desired the Brothers of Saint Francis should come to his Kingdom and preach and convert his vassals and for this he desired to send an embassy to His Holiness and ask him for many Religious and other needed things and if he wanted to go with his Ambassadors at least as far as New Spain to supplicate the King, and then go to Rome, if that seemed best to him. 

            Padre Brother Diego Ibagnes answered that he would accept the Embassy with great willingness, and so was on the point of giving the order to do whatever was necessary for making the voyage.  Not two hours passed, after Padre Brother Diego left the Palace when there came a courier by post advising him that the Prince had freed Padre Sotelo and that he would very soon come to Oshu.  At such news the King cheered up tremendously, which he demonstrated by throwing feasts, dances and celebrating, and learning that he had already entered his Kingdom ordered that he be met and well treated along the way, assigning him a good lodging with Court servants and a generous table.  Soon he called him to the Palace, where Padre Sotelo and Padre Ignatio came, the former having tonsured his hair and dressed in his own habit, having left off his Japanese robes on the order of the King, who couldn’t really believe that the Padre was still alive.

            The two Religious ate with the King, always honored, and beginning to talk about the voyage and his plans, declaring that it was his will that his entire Kingdom be made Christian.  Another day he called Padre Brother Luis and Don Filippo Francisco, who at the time was called Rocuemon (Rokuemon) Hasekura, and he entrusted them with his secret and his plan, communicating to them all his hopes and how he wanted to send both the Ambassadors to the King of Spain, and to the Pope, to carry out which he sent his secretaries to the habitation of Padre Sotelo and with them the letters and dispatches, which he consigned to them with great solemnity and ceremony, and then made to receive them, and although those of the Council differed with the King as His Majesty entrusted his seal, and honor, and that ship with so many supplies and people to a Padre who did not know who he was nor whether he would find the King or the Pope and much of the same to which people trying to dissuade him the King replied that it would not be possible for a man who knew so well the business of Heaven and despised that of the world to deceive or to lie. 

            And to give more satisfaction to everyone, the King went on a hunting expedition as far as the Port where the Ship stood, and entered into the ship to see it, whence he had ordered called all the Spaniards, officials, and Sailors who were in his service and to whom he said:  “This ship that I have had made, I send for no other end than that I bring to my Kingdom the laws of God and the Padres, so that you should go on your progress confident that God will give you a good voyage and success, and that in all these things you should give obedience to Padre Brother Luis Sotelo.  Once the Padres have come into my Kingdom I will order to be built a Church and soon we will all be made Christians”, and he said the same thing to his own people, and wrote it in a royal proclamation in which he commanded all the above, making many happy to hear it, and to recognize the very noble heart and holy desire of the King.

CHAPTER XV:  Of the Augmentation the Christianity Made in The Kingdom of Oshu With the Coming of the Padre, and How He Embarked with the Embassy for Spain and Rome

Although the Padre found himself hurried along with great haste and insistence that he leave, in any case it was necessary for him to delay for more than twenty days to confess all those Christians who like lost sheep came to find the water of the divine Word, so that he, Padre Sotelo, could confess and preach to and with Padre Ignazio to baptize fathers, mothers, children, siblings, families, one helping the other.  The fruit was very great that in this short time was borne on the Lord’s vine, without being able to sleep of nights nor one entire hour during the day.

            They had founded two Churches at Sendai: one where was installed the Court of the King (Wakabayashi?) , and another was in the state of Cuxanocami (Shonai/Mogami?), another in Goto, another in Aquita (Akita), another in Sembocu (Semboku), another in Nambucorte (Nambu), erected by catechizing Preachers and paid for by all the Christians of those parts who found there their happiness and spiritual contentment. They all were in this way well taught and catechized in the matters of the Faith, and the customs of Christians, as if they already had amongst them many Padres and Teachers; and they were so modest and humble in their lives and consciences that they caused great devotion and indeed amazement to hear about the deeds and acts of virtue that a child of thirteen years of age had done.

            He desired to be a Christian and was the nephew of the King himself, son of his first brother, because many of his own and his father’s servants were Christians, and from them he had learned things about our Holy Faith.  Auola (?), who was a great Gentile idolater, learned this, and although the youth could not be baptized, nor fast nor discipline himself and Auola saying this so he would not become a Christian because they held a very rigorous law and because he was not able to observe them, the youth answered:  “Tell me, Lady, what the Christians do?” and she, responding to him wanted to represent the rigor of the law and religion:  “The Christians stand in prayer from midnight until day on their knees and in the middle of winter they spend the day in a tub of cold water, nor do they eat meat more than once a day and they say that people who discipline their faces with blows from a stick until the blood flows.”

            This lad, having understood her to say what some Christians do for their Lenten devotions, punctually carried it all out, exercising himself in this way for more than three months, and to provide an inspiration he was able to stand it, and to suffer the life of Christians and his father praised him for his abstinence and for his discipline, which he carried out in secret.  This caused that his Mother, Father, Auola, and the whole House and Servants, seeing that the young man’s health was not at all impaired, called for a catechizer, and listened to sermons, and readied themselves to receive Holy Baptism, as soon as Padre Sotelo should arrive.  There were many other marvelous successes that must be left out so as not to prolong this discourse.

            Having finally left five Preachers in the Kingdom of Oshu (or catechizers) to divide themselves through the Kingdom and himself having written to the Religious who was his Superior, that he by any means find a way to invite another Priest and having already confessed, consoled, and animated all that Christian body that had descended upon him walking from various provinces four, six or eight days continuously, demanding license of that Padre Sotelo from the King, and with many tears and much sadness he embarked with that Padre Ignazio and Brother Diego and with the Ambassador with them, and 150 Japanese men of their company or servants, on 28 October, 1613.  After great tempests and storms they arrived in New Spain and traversing 6000 miles of sea, disembarked in the Port of Acapulco on 25 January 1614.

CHAPTER XVI: How the Ambassadors Come to the Port of Acapulco and are Received with Great Celebration by the Spaniards

Seeing in the Port of Acapulco a Ship so splendid and so gorgeous with royal insignias in which the Ambassador of Japan had come, on his way to his Holiness the Pope of the Christians and to his Catholic Majesty the King of Spain, the law courts and officials of the Port, determined to honor the title of the Embassy of Spain by using all possible courtesies.  They greeted the vessel, and giving the sign of peace, they shot off all their artillery and harquebuses and were received on land with the group of the nobility with the sounding of trumpets and drums, housed in the Royal House, treated with great splendor and honored with bullfights and other entertainments that were received by the Ambassadors and their company with incredulous excess of pleasure.  Above all the Castellan of the Port, having taken the part of Viceroy of Mexico had ordered that all be done for the Embassy to see to it that they felt no ill effects of their voyage. 

            Before, however, the Ambassador of Japan left, he gave orders to the officers of the Vessel that they should behave in seemly fashion, and then taking for the voyage a great number of horsemen for crossing Mexico and their progress, the Cities, Towns, and places that they passed came out to greet them with great festivity, raising triumphal arches and hanging the streets with rich brocades and tapestries, preceding the cavalcade and the men at arms who accompanied the court with the sounds of trumpets and drums, and through the whole voyage they were entertained in Royal Houses, caring for the Ambassadors themselves with great liberality, until safely arrived at Mexico City.

CHAPTER XVII: How the Ambassadors Arrived in Mexico [City], Continuing their Journey to Spain.

It was heard in Mexico City that the Ambassador was drawing near to that great city, and the royal residence, in which they were awaited with great expectation.  The Viceroy had ordered that they were to be hosted in a principal House adjacent to [the church of] San Francisco, in which they were treated with magnificence and generosity, visited by all the nobility and knights of the City, from the Archbishop, Royal Auditor, and Ministers of the Holy Inquisition.  And it was certain that the time was very opportune, when the Ambassador entered Mexico [City] for the edification and example of the Christian Religion; as the divine offices of Holy Week were being celebrated, there was occasion to rejoice in general devotion, and particular in the Passion Week processions and solemn observances of Good Friday and the desire for Holy Baptism grew, so that 78 people in the Ambassador’s family, that had already been instructed in the faith, were baptized with great solemnity in the Church of San Francisco, confirmed by the Archbishop and patronized by the nobles of the City, where even the Ambassador was determined to become a Christian, but was dissuaded by the Archbishop, and the Commisar General, to reserve that Holy Sacrament for performance in Spain. 

            Wanting to kiss the hand of the Viceroy with pomp and ostentation when he arrived, the Ambassador gave liveries to all his family so that the more they would be splendid in their orderly marching and the cavalcade was arrived at the Palace, were received by the Viceroy with much courtesy and contentment and he, talking of the journey promised the Ambassador that he would hurry them on their way, as they wished, and procure them safe and favorable passage; but that he could not give the order that the Vessel return back if they did not first get the order from His Majesty.  And though the Ambassador felt the impediment in his soul, that the voyage would be difficult, and that he would be obliged to leave behind the greater part of his people, he resolved to make his way to Spain with a light heart, and on the day of the Ascension of Our Lord, he left from Mexico, accompanied by many knights and by officials with orders that they were to be treated well all along the way, in particular in the City of Puebla de Los Ángeles since it was Pentecost, in which they gave sign of their great happiness, running bulls, and the delightful juego de cañas (game of reeds) featuring Don Tristan of Arezzano the greater Alcalde, (who was) greatly desirous of giving pleasure to the Ambassador.

            Then leaving from Puebla, the Padre Provincial of the Province of Santo Evangelio sent a Padre Religious with orders to all the Guardians of the Convents of the saint, that they should extend to the Ambassador and his family every demonstration of charity and of servitude so that they made their way with great speed and generosity until they arrived at San Juan de Ulúa, the port of the North Sea, where the General of the Fleet, Castellan of the Fortress, the Greater Alcalde and other officials and Royal ministers with a great multitude of the principal people go forth to receive them with the sound of the trumpet and drums and with that uniformity of feeling to accompany the Ambassadors to the Convent of Saint Francis where they would lodge and the fortress could be seen with volleys and artillery and harquebuses until they left in a Vessel from among the most powerful and most secure in the Fleet in which the Ambassadors, their family, and household since their own ship remained in the Port of Acapulco.

            They left with the Fleet of General Don Antonio de Oquendo on the 10 June in the year 1614, with a temperate crossing they arrived in the Port of Labana [La Habana] on 23 July of the same year, received by the Governor, Bishop and other personages with great shows of affection and courtesy and here as soon as the Galleons of General Don Lope del Mendaris arrived in company of which the Vessel joined on 7 August 1614 the General showing on diverse occasions how much he esteemed the Ambassadors, sending them gifts and presents from his own table, most of all caring for their health, so that sailing with great unanimity of mind, they reached after a few dangers and tempests at sea the safety of the Port of San Lucar de Verramada on October 5, 1614.

            The Duke of Medina Sidonia resided there and, advised of their arrival, sent carriages of the country to honor and receive in them the Ambassadors and their Gentlemen of the table, having prepared a famous lodging; and after having performed his professed duty, to present them with every liberality at the entrance to the famous City of Seville he spread forth two galleys which carried the Ambassadors to Coria where they were entertained through the orders of the aforesaid City by Don Pedro Galindo, one of the Vienticuatro who occupied himself with great diligence to satisfy the soul of the Ambassador with all possible pleasures and gifts, indeed procuring for the Ambassador himself new livery for his family, to shine with greater splendor and pomp for their entrance into Seville.

            While he was carrying out this action, the City decided to invite Don Diego de Cabrera, brother of Padre Sotelo, Don Bartolomeo Lopez de Mesa of the habit of Calatrava, Don Bernardo de Ribera, Don Pedro Galindo of the Vienticuatro with many judges and other Knights, because in his name they kissed their hands to the Ambassadors, and they rejoiced that they had come safely, making them many offerings of all needed thing and what they liked.  Above all this, the Ambassadors rested content indeed, gave many thanks to the City that out of its own generosity had been pleased to honor them, coming to agreement with these Cavaliers and showing great prudence in their dealings.

CHAPTER XVIII:  How the Ambassadors were Received with Great Pomp in Seville

On 21 October of the same year, the city made another demonstration of greater courtesy to receive the Ambassador and Padre Sotelo, sending carriages, horsemen and a great number of knights and other nobility making a solemn procession and parade.  When they left Coria, they saw with great pleasure the honor prepared for them, the pomp of the knights and horses and the great number of people that accompanied them the six miles to Seville.  As they drew near Triana, before they passed the bridge, the concourse of carriages multiplied itself, adding carriages, horse, and people of all types, so that the stagecoach, even with the firmness of two alguacils and other ministers of justice were not enough to push through to the front. 

            Finally the Count of Salvaterra, Assistente to the City, appeared, with a great cloud of titled gentlemen and with the Vienticuatro remaining on site with the rest of the Knights, and the Ambassador getting down from his carriage, he mounted a horse with his Captain of the Guard and Horse, dressed superbly in the Japanese style and having shown to the Assistente his indebtedness for all the many courtesies that he had received, and honors, that the City had extended to them, he was placed between the Assistente and the Greater Alcuazil, and the cavalcade thus proceeding together to tremendous applause and triumph of the people who filled the main streets from the Triana Gate to the Royal Alcazar, decorated and clothed with costly ornaments where the royal quarters were assigned to the Ambassador, and rooms for all the family.

            The Assistente began to explain to them signifying to them that the happiness and content that people felt was very great and that of the city even more so, and particularly of the Archbishop and the Chapter for having procured the aforesaid Embassy from Padre Sotelo, a native of the City, to the glory of the Holy Church and to the health of so many souls reborn with the water of Holy Baptism and because of this and other reasons these officials would be happy to entertain them in these quarters given over to their use by the City, until they left for Madrid.

            To which the Ambassador responded with gravity, giving thanks for the magnanimity of the City, that had so honored him and so arranged it to continue their favor, and all must be of the opinion that the King his Lord held of the fame and valor of the Cities and that through an authentic testimony to the benevolence and friendship that they sent the Embassy in particular, which has requested that the hour for the Audience be set. 

            The Assistente begged of the Ambassadors that they should apply themselves to resting and that they should give way to pleasure, as His Excellency had shown, given license to do so, that they might in the meantime be disposed to have a banquet in the evening with a great panoply of delicacies, number of servants, and particular happiness and in the same manner would continue with a variety of feasts so that the City would have occasion to make known their grandeur.

            Beyond which, the Assistente personally favored the Ambassador with various parties of comedies, dances, and entertainments put together to amuse him, as did many Knights, Prelates, Religious and serious persons, and especially the Judges and Royal Officials, each one offering the gift of his house.  On the twenty-seventh of that month and year the order came down from the Capital City giving the order through many – the Vienticuatro and the other Knights – that they should indicate to the Ambassadors that they were disposed to hear the Embassy of their King.

            Now they prepared themselves for this action with all their family, and accompanied by other important person, they were met at the gate of the Capitol and introduced to the Hall of Audience, His Excellency had the first place with Padre Sotelo, after the Assistante, who had wanted to receive the Embassy in a richer place, and more ornate.  However, silence was called for and the audience being ready for the Embassy, whose substance was contained in a letter, which was registered.

            Then Sotelo continued with an account of the great voyage, of the state of Japan and of Christianity that he had left there and in particular of the road that they had to travel, for which they implored the help of Seville.  The Assistente responded that he was very pleased with this request and that he would procure all that was needed for their journey home.  At this point entered into the Capitol Don Tomas Captain of the Guard of the Ambassador, with a sword and a dagger, which the King of Oshu had sent to donate to the City as a testimony of friendship and the communication that he desired.  The Assistente received the gift and the Royal letter, which, translated into Spanish and then into Italian, was read in public by the Secretary of the Capitol along the following lines:

To Seville, best-known and most illustrious City among the nations of the world:

      Through the particular providence of God, the coming of Padre Brother Luis Sotelo to our Kingdom, we have understood the excellent matters of faith, and the laws of God, which we have judged to be holy and good, being the true and sure way to salvation.  Whence we have desired to oblige ourselves to the observance and receive the just title of Christian through the means of holy baptism, but not now being able for serious reasons which make obstacles for us, we want all our vassals, whatever their station in life, to embrace the laws of the God of the Christians, as we hope will follow from the works and diligence of Padre Sotelo, and of a Knight of Our House, called Faxecuna Rocuemon, appointed Ambassadors to the great Lord of Christianity whom they call the Pope, and adore as the Vicar of Christ on earth.   Knowing in particular the grandeur and richness of that noble Republic, Homeland of Padre Sotelo, we have conceived for his Holiness great and special fondness for being the first Religious who gave the light of doctrine and the holy laws of God, born as a most faithful shoot from the gracious root of Seville.

      For whom we give continual thanks to His Divine Majesty, that we not omit to make use of these things with Your Holiness through scripture and by voice in our name our aforementioned chosen ones should do this, praying that this our mode of expression is pleasing, that we have received him in our friendship now and always that if you are content to strengthen it and send along an authentic testimony of benevolence as we hope; so that these things be preserved perpetually in our Royal Archive as we in anticipation send as a token of our stated will a SWORD and DAGGER, which are favorite ornaments of our Royal Person.  And to enter into the favor of Your Holiness, of which we rest most secure, remaining content that these Ambassadors be protected so that they arrive at the presence of the great and powerful King of Spain and that they will prostrate themselves at the holy feet of the High Priest and great Monarch of the Christian Republic so that corresponding to his goodwill and mercy that we might hope for our just desires, that we might be able through the means of the Holy Faith, that we want to embrace, to subject our Crown and our Vassals to the Holy Church, and to recognize in your spiritual Head as the lodging of God among all the Princes of the World.

      We are much in arrears of the knowledge of the sailing of Vessels, that we might come into contact with that famous Republic from the Sea of the Indies and of the South, guided by pilots and other persons of great knowledge of nautical arts and with deep knowledge of all the known seas and desirous of hearing if it is feasible to sail from this our sea to the sea of Spain, the ports that they find, and the climates they pass through, we would like to know, so that it would be satisfactory to join these two seas and take part in a consultation in order to do this sailing.  We have given the order to our ships, that they should make every year the same voyage to take more frequent occasion of showing our goodwill.

      Above all, the Padre will see to it in his own voice to supply many things that have been left out due to necessary brevity, and which will serve to keep faith, that would be suitable, and to convey together with this that we can use it with certainty to find in our perpetual desire of service to this Republic.

      Given in our court of Sendai on the 14th of the 9th Moon, the 18th year of this Era, which is to say 26 October 1613. 

      Signed:

      Desiring the grace and friendship of Your Holiness,

      The name and royal title:

      Idate Masamune Matcundaria [Matsudaira] Mutsunocami

The letter was read with pleasure and heard with the common applause of the City, the Assistant, with great gravity and decorum, said that it was the right of reverent obsequy to share with his Catholic Majesty the insistence and desire of the King of Oshu to be able to determine his response what would be of greatest concern to his royal service, under which he included that of the City.  With this having terminated the Audience, the Ambassador and Padre Sotelo in company with the Vienticuatro and the other Knights returned to the usual royal hospitality, passing some days in pleasure and incredible recreation.

            The agreement having been established, and the respect of the King of Oshu for His Majesty having introduced them into the City of Seville, I judged as appropriate of Royal grandeur to commend the honors and the expenditure that the Embassy had made, with particular exhortation that they not omit to continue this, as a Counsel of the state I advised (them to indulge) more generously in such pleasure.  Having received the royal commandments, the Assistente took care to point out to the Ambassador that he would serve him with a great increase in universal happiness and endow him with all that was necessary until they reached the Court.  Concerning which the Ambassador declared himself extremely satisfied, and repeating that the purchases he had already made were sufficient, because he bore in mind his obligation in the name of the King.  The Twenty-four joined in saying that this offer was with the desire and the express order of His Majesty, and of his Council of State, to which, not being able to reply, the Ambassador showed that he was much obliged.

            As their departure from Seville grew near, he wanted to perform the duty he had expressed at the Church, and to kiss his hands to the Archbishop, who saw the devotion and unanimity of the people bursting forth in such tenderness, and content of spirit, that he said, that this coming from such a far-off place resembled that of the Magi Kings, and as a sign to many, that would have rejoiced to see them, he would see to it that they were given a banquet, and to treat with them with accustomed humanity, as did also Don Feliz de Guzman, presiding Archdeacon of the Chapter, all of them offering to solemnize the Baptism of the Ambassador, but according to proper procedures, it seemed more reasonable to mark this occasion with the Royal Presence of His Majesty.

            The following day two Canons, and a Rationeer came to kiss their hands to the Ambassador in the name of the Chapter, to learn what they could do to serve him, and to please him.  He responded that he would rejoice in his soul to be made ready to adore the holy Relics, and to visit Churches.  A day having been set to see the most precious and holy relics of Seville, he was received in the greater Church prepared with great grandeur by the two deputy Canons, and all the Clergy, cheered most of all by the showing of the Sacristy, full of tapestries, and of silver objects, and almost a treasure of riches.  Finally was begun a concert, with harmonies on trumpets, and dancing, that rendered the place very sweet, and then going to see the height of the tower, they came upon a delicious buffet, and superb refreshments, of the sort that pleased the Ambassador, and which accompanied him all the way to the door of the Church, and dismissed with a great (sense of) fulfillment.

            The following day there remained a visit by all of the titled gentlemen, from the Royal Judges and other Personages, to all the others in due order, and in particular in the Convent of San Francisco, joining in the procession of the Capitol of the province of Andalucia, in which had been elected the Provincial Padre Brother Ernando Navarro.  This having been completed in keeping with the obligation of the whole City, and the license having been requested to proceed to the Court, the City wanted to show itself more generous, that first of all it gave the order to its two Deputies, that they should provide beds, and horses, and coaches, and carriages, and great sums of money, because the Ambassador desired to kiss the Royal hands of His Majesty as quickly as possible, in which haste the authority of the Assistente intervened, as did that of Juan Galliardo de Zespedes, so that they organized everything with punctuality and great love, and pulled together in one place all that was necessary for the journey.

CHAPTER XIX:  How the Ambassadors left Seville, passed through Cordova and Toledo and Came to Madrid

On the day of Saint Catherine, 25 November, the Ambassadors left Seville with a numerous company and in good order, receiving for the holidays of the voyage presents and refreshments, with great festivity in the places they passed, and most signally was that in the City of Cordova, in which a certain Corrector Don Giovanni (Juan) di Guzman wanted to honor the entry of the Ambassadors with an escort of cavalry and to receive them into the house of Don Diego di Cordova, hung with cloths in anticipation, and in a short time the City sent to kiss the hands of the Ambassadors their twenty-four Judges and Mace bearers, declaring the hour of their arrival as fortunate, with the insistence that they stay a few days in that City, because they would be able to comply with the desire he maintained to entertain them and to put off their business for the following day. 

            That evening they were to feast, and to celebrate sumptuously, and delight most of all in music, and the most superb entertainments.  In the morning, at the appointed hour the Corrector appeared at the residence of the Ambassadors to accompany them with the nobility, and the Knights of the City to the greater Church, and then to the Royal Riding School; visiting en masse all the places in the City where so many people had gathered that they blocked passage to all the streets.  Finally he (Don Juan di Guzman) begged the Ambassadors to favor him with the use of his house, where the Corrector would see to it that they were showered with gifts, and honored in all the following business.

            Thereupon as a sign of their pleasure and to general applause, at the insistence of the Ambassador they visited the prisons and freed many of those incarcerated; and having obtained the license and giving appropriate thanks for the generosity of Córdova, they were accompanied by many of the nobility more than three miles from the City, and sent off with much goodwill.  Making their journey with great swiftness, they reached Toledo, without the city being able to avoid having them enter without ostentation, and not putting the nobility to any trouble.  In this way the Ambassadors, coming to kiss the garments of the Cardinal Archbishop, were able to give him very brief details of their embassy, which cheered him very much, so that he insisted they should be his guests that day. 

            But refusing the favor of the Cardinal with cogent excuses, and the favors of the City as well, so that they could ride on to fulfill their duty with the necessity of keeping to their schedule, they returned to the road, and, having come to Xetafe, they explained to the College of State about their coming to the Court, of which fact His Majesty was aware, (and) ordered the they be lodged in the Convent of San Francisco, in a place much to the purpose, prepared and tapestried in royal furnishings, and in the same way provided for all of their family, giving them services in silver officially destined for use on the table, the Councils of State and of the Indies indicating that in this particular case they be assigned ready cash for expenses so that they could continue with great liberality and grandeur.

CHAPTER XX:  How the Ambassadors Entered Madrid

With matters arranged as mentioned above, on 20 December, 1614 came the entry of the Ambassador and of Padre Sotelo into the Court with a greater intensity of cold and a fall of snow than had occurred in the whole winter, and without pomp or ostentation they went into the Convent of Saint Francis, His Majesty having judged it more decent for the continual devotion and examples of the Padres, where they were visited by many titled Grandees, Lords, and Knights, each one making a large donation to their house(hold) and a gift, if they could; and in particular appeared the King’s Majordomo, the greater Chaplain, and Don Barnabeo of Vibanco, in the name of His Royal Majesty, to set an appropriate time for the coming of the Ambassador, and to signify to them the content that he felt in it, promising them a good outcome and the quick forwarding on in conformance with their wishes, and that meanwhile they could rest themselves from such a distant voyage which allowed them to enjoy (with them both) Holy Easter and the Birth of Our Lord in all content of spirit, as truly they did all pass in (the church of ) San Francisco with every offering of thanks.

            On 30 January of the year of the Incarnation 1615, the Ambassador was advised, and Padre Sotelo, by order of His Majesty, that he would assist them, and hear their Embassy.  They quickly mounted the coach which His Majesty had sent to (the church of) San Francisco along with much cavalry, that having carried them as far as the Palace, where was posted the German guard, the Ambassador and Padre Sotelo arrived with their family dressed in the livery of the Royal House, and the Ambassador wearing certain very exquisite clothes that were only used in the solemn acts of embassy, and entrance was given to where His Majesty stood on his feet, supported by a sideboard, under a Baldacchino, attended by all of the Grandees.  The Ambassadors making three very profound genuflections, His Majesty exposed his hand for kissing, but the King drew it back, removed his hat, and made an inclination of his head with a very kind face, commanding them to raise themselves to their feet, and explain their Embassy.

      PROPOSAL of the EMBASSY that Hasekura made in the name of the King of Oshu, to the Catholic King:

      As one who after many shadows and toils has passed through them to find the light, there rejoices in the soul of the first splendor which illumines it, just so I, coming from parts deprived of the light of Heaven, to find it in these Kingdoms of the Christians, appearing in your Royal Presence, which is a very sun of Christianity, lighting the world, not only did I no longer feel the dangers of the sea and the disasters of the land, but lighted by the Royal Splendor of Your Majesty and consoled by the ray of your royal mercy, I judge myself the most fortunate and honored of my Kingdom.

      The land whence I came is the most remote that Spain touches:  it is called Japan.  The King that sends me is Daté Masamune my lord the very powerful King of the Kingdom of Oshu, in whose name I kiss your Majesty’s hands and propose this Embassy.  The King my lord having heard the excellence of the Holy Faith and the laws of God, judged that the sect of Japan was a deceit of the devil, and the Religion of the Christians was the certain way of salvation, desiring to join them by means of Holy Baptism, and to see to it that all his vassals should follow in this holy intention that does not set its sights on the fundament of temporal things, subject to a thousand accidents, but the eternity of Heaven where they are immortal:  but because the enterprise was filled with difficulty, producing as usual all the factional discord, attended by many dangers, not having the needed helps, he thought to have recourse to sending an embassy to Your Majesty, as a firm column of the Church and to beg you urgently if you could save us by sending Religious and holy preachers who could spread abroad the truth of the Holy Gospel and administer the Holy Sacraments, making the same request of His Holiness the Pope who over this would set forth what would be of most service to God, and the health of those souls thirsting for the water of Holy Baptism and of the Holy Treasure of the Church.

      Secondarily the King of Oshu sent to kiss Your Majesty’s hand, the fame that lives in Japan of your Royal grandeur, power and Monarchy having spread far and wide into all inhabited parts:  and of that kindness that it demonstrates to the nations, that you put under the protection of your Imperial power.  Whence I bring you an order to offer to Your Royal Majesty his Kingdom and Crown and to consecrate the friendship and service that he wants to be contracted with this formidable Monarchy.  Supplicating Your Royal clemency that you show your kindness in enjoying the affection with which it is given, and dispose of the forces of the Crown on all the occasions of your Royal service with certainty to find them ever ready.  And as a sign of your grateful will I beg to conclude the long period of my private enjoyment so that I may please the King my lord, even to the glory of the King of Heaven, as it serves to give the order that in Your Royal Presence I can receive new life that is horn of the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, being pleased with the prospect that being solemnized in this way I will shine that much the more in Japan, and I will remain in the chain of perpetual obligation.

The RESPONSE of HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY to the AMBASSADOR

      Great has been the content and joy that we have received through knowing by means of this embassy that the Holy Law of God are promulgated all the same in Japan and now in particular in the Kingdom of Oshu, where the people are so capable and ingenious; we rejoicing in the Lord that allows us to reign, that in our time should come to seek his glory from so far away, because it is our ardent desire not to aim at anything else but the propagation of the Holy Gospel and the extirpation of the infidels and the growth of the Christian Republic and for this we are determined to correspond voluntarily to the request of the King, that he sends.

      We receive the offer and the friendship that he proposes to us with its just will, and on our part we will see to it that we not fail in our duty to preserve it.  Under the circumstances that go attached to this embassy, when we see the opportunity we will hear more of this business.  The deep-rooted desire, that he wants to be Christian has made us content, and we rejoice greatly that this Sanctifying Sacrament be celebrated in our presence.

Having heard the response, the Ambassador knelt down again, and kissing the letter, and the obeisance of the King his Lord, he gave them to His Majesty, and the Padre Commissar General of the Indies, asking a license to authenticate the embassy, referring to the greatness, power and force of the King of Oshu and the great augmentation of Religion that arose not only from the Holy Faith but also from his Royal assistance, conceding willingly to the just influences, as he had, representing to him (these arguments) with the great and constructive efficacy of human reason.

            To which His Majesty responded with the full gravity of courtesy that he rejoiced in this relationship and he would see to it that the desire of a King of such consequence to the growth of Christianity in that region not be left unfulfilled.

PROPOSAL of the EMBASSY of PADRE BROTHER LUIS SOTELO in the NAME of the EMPEROR of JAPAN to HIS CATHOLIC MAJESTY

      The Embassy in the name of the King of Oshu having finished, that of P. F. Luis Sotelo Ambassador of the reigning Emperor of Japan, having asked leave with the owed reverence, set forth:

      Lord, The Emperor of Japan having for five years meant me to treat of an armistice and correspondence with Your Royal Majesty, for the lack of his own safety not being able to travel to Spain to carry this out, had surrogated Padre Alonzo Muñoz in my place; and I, remaining in Japan, understood that the Hollanders had sent an Embassy to the Emperor to disturb the friendship that he sought to contract with the Crown of Spain, offering broad conditions to the detriment of your royal service, and to the extinction of the faithful of Japan, and to remediate that he not pursue such ruin without a murmur from the Dutch nation, I persuaded the Emperor that only with the friendship of the King of Spain, much the most powerful in the world, would he be able to attain to things much greater than these that the Dutch offered:  making more secure communication with the Spanish than with such a perverse nation.

      Having pondered well the reasons I proposed, he again determined to assign me to this Embassy, with order to arrange this communication that he had wanted for so long, and in his name, I ask you, as soon as I possibly could.

The RESPONSE of HIS MAJESTY

To the will and desire that the Emperor of Japan has demonstrated towards this Crown, we have rejoiced how much reason is in it, and of the duties and diligences placed in the way of our service of which may we preserve the memory to demonstrate it in our own good time; offering to communicate to the Emperor with as much dispatch as I can.

On which kissing the hands of his majesty the Ambassador showed the Imperial letters to the Royal hand of His Majesty, and asked concerning some curiosities of Japan, he answered with much prudence and sagacity, promising His Majesty by one or the other Ambassador that he would send satisfaction consistent with what he thought was in conformance with the service of God and of his Kingdoms.

            Given leave by the King, they were at the Royal quarters of the Queen-elect of France, where the Most Serene Princes were standing, supported by a buffet table, and the tale being given to their highnesses of some of the curiosities of Japan, from Padre Sotelo’s lips, they were extremely pleased in the news and promised to procure from His Majesty quick and good speed.  Speaking in particular the Queen-elect of France who heard the wish of the Embassy, for being sent on their way by means of the Padres of Saint Frances, she was observant, and had a particular desire to favor them and help them.  The Royal visits having been accomplished, the Ambassadors were accompanied to San Francisco, so the Court was pleased to see such novel folk, and come from such a great distance of the earth to procure holy teaching.

CHAPTER XXI:  How the Ambassadors Visited the Duke of Lerma and Other Grandees

On 4 February (1615), the Ambassadors went to meet with the Duke of Lerna, presenting him with a letter from the King of Oshu and saluting him in his Royal name. To which the Duke showed great content for the honor that he had received and recompensing the Ambassador in the first place and the Padre in the second, heard with great interest the proposal of the Embassy and promised to see to it that the King his lord was disposed to concede as much as was asked for, and above all the means to pass on to Rome and letters to the Holiness of Our Lord, offering in the name of His Majesty men and ships for the navigation of Japan and all other necessary items because he intended that the King of Oshu having so prudently determined to join himself with the bonds of good friendship with a Catholic King and leave the part of the Dutch heretics.

            Having heard such a favorable reply and certain of the good success of the Embassy, they gave infinite thanks to the Duke, and the Ambassador asked him that having sailed 4000 leagues with the desire and hope of being raised to the sacred font of baptism at his hand, in the presence of his Royal Majesty, it would serve to authenticate an act as religious as that, because it would be an example for imitation by the Knights of Japan.

            To which the Duke gave his word with great kindness, saying that for an act of such importance he would have travelled as many miles just to be his godfather, not omitting to recognize in the nature of the Ambassador the spirit and the prudence of what he had declared and repeated many times:  that it was a great venture of the Crown that in these times Ambassadors came from the farthest corners of the earth.

            The business of the visit having concluded, the Duke wished to accompany the Ambassador and Padre Sotelo as far as the stairs, using with them every show of compliment and of pleasure. 

            The following Thursday [February 12] they visited the Infanta of the Discalced, to whom having narrated some things about the sects and nature of Japan, they begged jointly that Her Highness would make intercession with His Majesty because the Baptism of the Ambassador would be celebrated in her own Church [of San Francesco], and promising to [illegible] the Cardinal of Toledo, who would be happy to solemnize the sacrament; from which the Cardinal excused himself, due to the weakness of his paralysis, promising that his Cantor would replace him, with all the Clergy.  In any case he wanted to show to the House great honor, and treat it to a solemn feast, if they would allow the Cardinal who would be visiting the Ambassador himself in person, in a few days, giving many Images, Crowns, Crucifixes, Lambs of God, and other devotional objects and particular a painting of Our Lady of great value, and a portrait of the Ambassador, decorated in gold, so that he could remember him.

            That same Saturday was announced to the Ambassador that they could carry the gift of the King of Oshu, which was delivered to His Royal Majesty by Padre Sotelo and by Don Tomaso Captain of the Ambassador’s Guard, placed first and displayed in an Audience Chamber, so that His Majesty might see it, as he did see it, and received it with great content with a very brief embassy, that the aforementioned Captain gave in the following form:

      “Lord.  It seemed to the King of Oshu, considering your Royal grandeur, little enough to offer your Person these things and he was, as he had shown by his promise to reciprocate your Royal assistance with all speed; and in testimony of such a desire has sent along this little gift, as the fruit of Japan, which has arrived in safety at this Court, and in his name supplicates Your Majesty with every kind of respectful duty that will serve to be pleasing to you.”

            To which His Royal Majesty responded that he greatly esteemed the wishes which he had dispatched, and he was pleased with the gift, especially wishing to cause the King of Oshu happiness in return with more demonstrations (of affection), and commending the unusual nature and excellence of the gift, they were to be allowed into the Royal Presence with an act of such great courtesy.

            Sunday [the 15th], at the twenty-second hour (10:00 p.m.), Monsignor Nuncio Gaetano, Archbishop of Capua, certainly a Prince of much valor and prudence, knowing that the Ambassador wanted to visit him, was ready with a great panoply of much Italian and Spanish nobility, both Ecclesiastic and Secular, to honor him and the Embassy, and hearing that the Ambassador had mounted his coach, all the whole Court was ready to receive him, and The Monsignor Nuncio, at the sight of the first Runner, exhibited particular content of his coming as witness of the universal applause which the Christian Republic must feel, and above all Rome, as the head of the world as the seat of the true Vicar of God, which had already experienced such a fortunate augmentation with the certainty that it would please the Embassy with its wonted mercy and grandeur and that in the just precedents that it would show with the King, that remitted very freely from the Treasury of the Church. 

            Concerning which the Ambassador having remained additionally consoled, he kissed the garment (of the Nuncio), and imploring him to render the service of honoring his (Hasekura’s) baptism with his (the Nuncio’s) presence, His Illustrious Lordship responded that he would attend with great pleasure, and insofar as it depended on his own authority, and as his institution would have cause to demonstrate in all necessary occasions.

CHAPTER XXII:  How Ambassador Hasekura was baptized in the Royal Church of the Discalced of Madrid

Wednesday 17 February His Majesty gave the order that the holy baptism of the Ambassador should take place in the monastery of the Discalced Nuns, where would be present His Royal Person with the Queen-elect of France and the two serene Infantas (Maria Ana and Margaret Frances), with many Grandees of Spain, titled gentlemen, and Lords; the Prince remained in the Palace, due to a lack of health, and with His Highness (future Philip IV) the other princes his brothers (Ferdinand, a future cardinal, and Charles).

            The Ambassador was carried from San Francisco in a coach, accompanied by His Majesty’s guard to the designated Church, which had been prepared with rich tapestries and a great abundance of gold and silver lamps.  Into the top of the altar had been built another altar with all the things needful for the act of Baptism; and the Japanese arranged themselves on the stairs, on this side and on that.

            The elements having been placed, and the Count of Altamira, greater Majordomo of the Infante (the Crown Prince), placed on one side, and the Ambassador standing on the other, Don Diego di Guzman, greater Chaplain of the King at the Chapel of the Empress, entered, where there were seats for the Godparents, who were the Duke of Lerma and the Contessa of Barascia, as Lady most acceptable to His Majesty, with the respect of many, liked by the Queen; who joined them and took their seats, and all the Royal Chaplains with many torches joined them and the greater Chaplain having vested, as a Parish Priest in the place of the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, weakened by his paralysis, the Ambassador with both great happiness and devotion, prepared to receive holy Baptism, taking the name Don Filippo Francisco Faxecura (Filippo Francisco Hasekura), and this having been celebrated the Royal Chapel began to sing the Te Deum Laudamus and to sound the organ and a very sweet sinfonia.  The godparents rejoiced along with the Ambassador, and they prayed that he would pray to God for them, and then introducing him to His Majesty, who wanted to congratulate him, and he found that he stood conversing with the Queen (sic) of France with the Monastic Infanta, and with the other Princesses and kneeling to them, His Majesty ordered that he rise, and embracing him said to him,

            “God make you a good Christian, and your King also, and pray God for me now, for you stand in His good grace.”

            The Ambassador replied that he considered himself the luckiest knight in Japan, not only because he was already a Christian, and put an end to old desires, but for having been honored in the presence of his Royal Person, reborn of God and placed in the Catalogue of the Church, and showing that he didn’t know the words to show his due thanks, he would set aside in the course of his life to pray for the prosperous success of his Royal Crown.

            The Queen of France and the Monastic Infanta, rejoicing with the Ambassador insisted that, as in the grace of the Lord he should be content to supplicate him for the good fortune of the Crown, with which were introduced to his view all the House of Donna Maria Manriche and Donna Maria de Bonavite, by order of His Majesty, the Ambassador confessing that the house was truly splendid and a fit match for the Majesty and grandeur of its namesake, and finding the Abbess in the infirmary, he met the Duke of Lerma, who said once again to the Ambassador that it was his own great good fortune to consecrate one nourished by God.  At which the Ambassador with great insistence kissed his hands to the Duke for the continuation of the favors he had received.

            He then visited with great devotion and humility all the Chapels and holy relics to the great edification of all the Nuns, ladies of the Queen, who in the excess of their happiness were seen to weep.  The Cardinal of Toledo meeting with the Ambassador said that the weakness of his hands under paralysis was now substituted by gout, which left him without feet to find him present at an act of such edification and pleasure.  And the Ambassador, thanking him for his good will and affected by his kindness, begged him to give him his holy blessing.

            Passing on, he found His Majesty, who was seated, and conversing with the Infant, and asking the Ambassador whether he had enjoyed seeing the House.  He answered that he kissed his hands to His Majesty for the grace and favor he had received, and in particular for having given him a new life and a new being, being able justly to be called a Servant of God, and perpetual vassal to his Royal Majesty.  They passed along in turn many curious questions, among which His Majesty asked if the Ambassador would be going to Rome.  He said that he only awaited his leave, and order to make this voyage, and begged that this could be done in all quickness, and His Majesty replying that he had already given the order, the Ambassador insisted on kissing his Majesty’s hand in gratitude.

            Whence he came to the principal gate, awaited by many Grandees and Lords and with the help of the same guards he was accompanied to the Coach, so that he could make his way back to San Francisco where stood the Guardian Padre with all the Brotherhood, and with a tall cross, and torches, and music he was received into the church, singing the Te Deum laudamus, the Ambassador not omitting to render thanks to his Divine Majesty owed for the hope he held of another life.

CHAPTER XXIII:  How the Ambassador left Madrid for Rome

The Ambassador having been received into the bosom of the Holy Church, by means of Holy Baptism, he had occasion to exercise himself in the works of Faith, and taking the example and edification of the holy life of the Fathers for a space of eight months in which he was hosted in that aforementioned Convent of Saint Francis of Madrid and entertained with the liberality and magnitude of His Majesty, who was pleased that such a distant nation, so new to the customs of the Church, would steep itself in Christian religion and piety, and would make the law of God the foundation established in their soul, and in the breast of the Ambassador, who having fortunately negotiated and carried out to the end – and with dispatch – his voyage to Rome, much to the purpose of His Majesty and corresponding to his Royal clemency, had begun to visit the Grandees before leaving the Court and setting out for the final center of his pious desires, receiving as an Interpreter and for the business of the Embassy the most learned Scipione Amati, a Roman, at the insistence of Donna Vittoria Colonna the Duchess of Medina of Rio Seco and the Contessa of Modica and of Monsignor Caetano the Nuncio, making him a gentleman of his own table.

            And His Majesty was also pleased because the Ambassador was, seemingly, remaining for the rest very satisfied with the magnificence and grandeur of the Court, of the celebrations, the games, the tourneys and parties at the Palace, and above all having admired all of their piety and the Religion of His Majesty, and the form of his political government, regulated with an admirable order of councils, all subordinate to that of the State.

            And after he (the Ambassador) had completed the duty of the Embassy and had given on all public and private occasions ample demonstration of works of faith and with his exterior behavior having greatly edified the Lords with whom he had treated, he took the road to Alcalà with coaches, carriages, and mules, where they arrived the evening of Saturday 22 August, visited the Convent of San Francisco, in which they were solemnly received by the Guardian Padre, and having heard the Mass, and having adored the many reliquaries he visited Padre Francis Michel, a lay physician, who was particularly favored by Heaven, raised to ecstasy, who gave great consolation and admiration to the Ambassador and the edification of his whole family; as did also Padre Brother Tomaso, who spoke of the conversion of Japan, who was so caught up in the ecstasy of these sentiments that a puff of wind could have moved him, and he leapt as if his body had no weight. 

            Which was seen by Don Tomas, Don Pedro, and Don Francisco, they said that it didn’t seem otherwise than through certainty of another life, and took example and resolution to leave the world, and if the Padre and Doctor Amati hadn’t interposed with the reason of convention and greater success, they would all have determined to make themselves monks, and dress themselves in the habit of the Saint.  With all this, Don Tomas and Don Francesco cut off their rear pigtails and laid down their arms, dedicating themselves to the Lord in the habit of a Japanese monk.

            Nor did he omit to see the famous University of Alcalà, in which he was met by all the Colleagues, and by the Rector, and honored with all the attached obsequies and the journey continuing the following morning, they reached the City of Arocca, marked down among all the others of the Crown of Aragon, for the particular favor that Christ our Lord had made use of it, placing his holiest body in a corporal, the most famous in the world and unique among the nations.

            The Ambassador, wanting very much to see and adore this holiest mystery, gave the order to Dr. Amati that he should bring it about that he petition the Justicia (local body of judges?) and the Chapter for this favor, and the Nobility of the public governance having congregated in the usual place of Audience, the Doctor entered, and having been received with great courtesy, and suitably honored, said to the City council: 

“Sirs, the miraculous sign of the holiest Corporal, and glorious mystery of this Sanctuary, and the famous City of Daroca, is so well-known throughout the world that (the fame of) it has reached even to Japan, and over there it is worshipped by the Christians as the most holy Sacrament.  For this has the most reverend Padre Sotelo has now come, and Don Filippo Hasekura, Ambassadors of the King of Oshu, one of the most powerful rulers of Japan, begging and asking to beg of Your Lordships with very great emphasis that I represent this to you, so that you might be willing to grant this favor so that they can see and adore with fear this sacrosanct relic, and most singular mystery of Our Lord.”

            To which the Justicia responded that it was pleased by the desire of the Lords Ambassador, and that it would study the question, and after the Doctor left they decided to dispatch two Alguazils (Judges) to say to the Lords Ambassador – as also were sent two Canons in the name of the Chapter – that with great pleasure they had given way to their devoted insistence, and that they had decided to allow them to come to visit the holy mystery.  For which having rendered thanks, the Lords Ambassador readied themselves to go to the Church of the Holiest Trinity, which held this great Treasure, accompanied by the Justicia and the nobility of Daroca, with drums and trumpets; and they heard Mass, the Holiest Corporal was shown, in which there were five little communion wafers stained with blood, one of the greatest miracles in the world.  By which the Japanese Ambassadors were much consoled, and supported in the same manner all the way to their house, they traveled by coach all the way to Saragoza, where Doctor Amati had sent the Majordomo with a letter addressed to the Lord Count of Guimaran, of the blood and valor of a very honored Knight, and to a great extent because he wished to honor and favor the embassy of Japan with the principal nobility and the knights of the City, and additionally to procure that the Viceroy would distinguish himself in this action, he reached this City (Saragoza) on 30 September, at midnight, not giving way until (he reached) the Marchese di Gelbes, named Don Diego Pimentello, so that he would use in advance his usual courtesy.

            (This) he did that morning (October 1, 1615.), going in to kiss his hands to the Lords Ambassador, and to give them a good hour of arrival, persuading them jointly to remain with him until morning, and so that they would enjoy the City, he helped them to two carriages, with which they could visit with great devotion Our Lady of the Pillar, so celebrated in Christendom, called the Angelic Hall, and at the entrance to the Church they were received by the Prior with a great gathering of Canons, (with) Music, and ceremonies, and organ.  They heard Mass in the chapel of Our Lady, and adored that sacrosanct Pillar, (and) having seen the holy Reliquaries made their way to San Francisco, and having visited the Church and Convent (there), entered the palace of the Viceroy through a Corridor, where was standing ready the guard to receive them.

            The Viceroy came out to greet them with great punctiliousness, and affection, taking them into very rich quarters, where they passed half an hour carrying out questions and answers, giving him time to order a generous banquet, at which ten people were served with much punctuality and with a very grand abundance of viands.  The banquet having ended, the Lord Marchese passed more than two hours with the Ambassadors, discoursing on various topics both serious and frivolous, and to all of them the Ambassador gave a response, and most complete satisfaction, rendering the Viceroy appreciative of his prudence and valor.

            The hour of leaving having arrived, His Excellency commanded that the Lords Ambassador should be carried in his own carriage, and to be served by the guard, allowing moreover that the Lady Vicereine be visited, because she would enjoy (seeing) such novel folk, with such extravagant dress.  And (after) they visited some Churches of devotion, and saw the relics and the silver of the chief Church, they returned to the house very satisfied by the generosity of the Viceroy, a Lord certainly worthy of such great power for his integrity, prudence, and valor, which he maintained towards the things of this world, and in the practice of political and military business.

            Having left Saragoza, Doctor Amati sent the Majordomo to Fraga, writing to Don Godfredé Bardaxi, in order to bring it about that Captain Don Martin de’Eredia would hold his company in readiness to accompany the Lords Ambassador all the way to the confines of Lerida, and, having arrived at that Land, the end of the Kingdom of Aragon, they found the one and the other, who made an offer of people, and horses, and in the morning (October 2, 1615) they set out for Lerida, where, having arrived to eat, at the sixteenth hour, the Doctor treated with Auditor Rellano of the Council of Barcelona, who had come with a company of soldiers of Perpignano, because its Signoria was eager to give them a company of soldiers to safeguard the voyage to Catalugna (Catalonia) and so he handed over twelve mounted horsemen, with whom they safely reached Isolata, whence they left with a cavalcade for Our Lady of Monferrato, the Doctor having written the previous night a letter to the Abbey of San Benedetto of the holy House, advising them as to the coming of these Ambassadors.

            They were received with great courtesy and lodged in the Royal Suite, taking great edification of the miracles and holy life of those Father and in particular the Romites who lived in the mountain:  the Doctor having gone ahead with a soldier of the guard to kiss the hands of the Marchese of Almazan, Viceroy of Barcelona, and to do likewise with his most Serene Prince Filibert in the name of the Ambassadors and consigned to His Eminence and then to His Highness letters of His Catholic Majesty, that he wrote in favor of this Embassy.

            And having come to Barcelona he visited the Viceroy, who was lying in bed with his usual malady, and consigning to him the letter of His Majesty, and accompanying it with official courtesy, His Eminence read it, that was of this form:

      “Brother Luis Sotelo of the Order of Saint Francis Discalced came to this Court in the company of the Ambassador of the King of Oshu of Japan, and has assisted him in all his business, that he has carried out with particular thought and good zeal, and passing now to Rome with this Ambassador I had wanted to write you on his behalf, and to entrust him to you, as I do, that you consider it much recommended to give them all favor and as good a welcome as would seem right, and also to the Ambassador, and to all his family in any way, if they should need it, in such a way that they leave very satisfied, that besides which this would be a matter greatly concerning the Service of God, and to us, through the merit of his person, and for the good management that he has demonstrated and because it would please me.

      “At Valladolid 5 August 1615.”

            And saying that he was happy at the coming of the Lords Ambassadors, and that it was a great disappointment not to be able to greet them in person, and to receive them as His Majesty had ordered, finding himself in bed, and absent from the government, and the Doctor telling of the many conveniences and grandeur of the Embassy was licensed by His Eminence and he gave a response to the Ambassadors of the retinue by means of the same soldier who had been sent to him.

CHAPTER XXIV:  How the Lord Ambassador left Nostra Signora di Monserrat and came to Barcelona

Saturday evening (October 3, 1615) the Lord Ambassadors arrived at Barcelona, having been met outside the Gate by the Doctor with two carriages, into which they climbed, so they could alight in a very good house, near San Francisco near the Marina, whence they could enjoy watching the strolls of all the nobility of Barcelona.  Finding His Highness in Monserrat, the Doctor negotiated with Secretary Castilio before the coming of His Highness and that of Don Pedro of Toledo, to get a sailing of a galley to Italy, and knowing the difficulties they had suffered, he determined that this secretary send the letter of His Majesty the Most Serene Prince of which this following translation was the tenor:

      “Lord Sobino.  Brother Luis Sotelo of the Order of Saint Francis Discalced came to this Court in the company of the Ambassador of the King of Oshu in Japan, and has assisted him in all his business and has carried this out with particular thoughtfulness and good zeal; and passing now to Rome to treat of the same with your Holiness I had wanted to entrust to you, as I do that on the first passage of a galley that you have for Italy that you see to it that there be enough spaces on it for them that he can take his whole family with him in such a way that they are well accommodated, and can make their voyage swiftly and securely, which would please me very much and for which I would honor and favor you in all else, if you should offer it them.”

            In this period (the Sunday after their arrival, Saint Francis Day, October 4) I [Amati] negotiated with Ailo, Secretary of the Viceroy, and making known to him the courtesy that it was necessary to use and maintain towards this Embassy, the goodwill that His Majesty had always received and for which he was valued and honored throughout his Kingdom.  Finally I sent two carriages with which the Lord Ambassador visited the Viceroy on his bed, and with general words they ended the visit, then going to visit the Convent of Jesus of the Fathers of Saint Francis outside Barcelona, where they were received by the Guardian with many displays of affection, and having seen the gardens, they returned to the City, strolling along the Corso of the Marina.

            In the morning (Monday, October 5, 1615), the Doctor was to negotiate with the Lord Count of Eril, Viscount of Eboli, for the proper use of the goods and money that the Embassy was carrying; and after the Consistory of Deputies had met the Doctor was to beg them in the Ambassadors’ names this franchise and use, saying:

      “Lords.  The length of the voyage of the Embassy of Japan, which is 5,200 leagues, was accompanied by dangers, hardships, and expense.  The protection, liberality and help in cost that His Catholic Majesty has used with it since its arrival in New Spain and the Port of Acapulco, up until the ends of his Kingdoms, that is, Barcelona and beyond.  The glorious end of which it came is the conversion of the Island of Japan: these are three reasons beyond these that are most pertinent to this Very Illustrious Senate’s giving thanks to a foreigner who came to join his Crown to the Christian Republic.  The Lord Ambassadors beg to content themselves with giving thanks for the use and franchise affixing to all that which they received, they remain much obliged and honored.”

            “The Lords Deputy intend,” they responded, “to consider it at their convenience.” The Doctor left, after once again calling upon their favor, and in the name of the Embassy returning to these Lords, promised to make a record of the speech, as he also did with the Council of the City for the gathered audience.  The day following, he visited the House of the Deputation, which occupied a lovely Hall, where they could see all the silver and precious things of the Deputation, then visiting the greater Church, and a Hall of Armaments that Barcelona had, they went to the Mole, having obtained for the seeing of these things coaches and assistance of Signor Don Francisco Eril, lord of great good judgment and intention of worldly matters, and a great friend of Doctor Amati through the intervention of Signor Don Pedro Ramirez, Governor of the States of Almirante of Castile.

            So things stood when the response came from His Highness the Secretary, who sent to call the Doctor, and giving him advice of that which had been incurred for the cost of the embarkation, he resolved to pray the Secretary who in the name of His Majesty wrote a dispatch to Don Juan Ruiz Volasco, Royal Captain, because he was well acquainted with the Port, and could see to it that they take comfort in their passage to Italy, and finding two Genoan Frigates and a Barcelona Brigantine, he went aboard them in the name of His Highness for making disposition of the Lord Ambassadors when they wished to cross to Italy.

            And knowing of the coming of the galleys, and that of Don Pedro di Toledo was large, the party set forth with feluccas, onto which went the Ambassadors and their families, with great convenience.  And if the timing was good, the contrary wind came, holding up the voyage, and interrupting their progress; anyway it did not pass without danger, and arriving at Savona; the State of Genoa sent a felucca with Dr. Amati to deliver a letter of His Catholic Majesty to Don Juan Vives his ambassador resident in that Republic; and to deliver another to his Most Serene Doge whom the Doctor had written in the name of the Embassy with the signature and seal of the Lord Ambassadors, for terms of convenience, and to disembark in the City with the pleasure and license of His Serenity (the Doge of Genoa).

CHAPTER XXV:  How the Lords Ambassador Arrive in Genoa from Savona

After these duties had been carried out, and the offer of housing of the Ambassador of Spain having been received, I waited to meet the Lords Ambassador, meeting them at the Mole with a letter; they went secretly as far as the Convent of the Annunciata of S. Francisco, where they were hosted one night with great refreshment of their spirits and consolation of the Padres.  The following morning the Republic sent two Secretaries and two Mace-Bearers to learn when the Serene Doge (of Genoa) could meet with the Embassy and show the pleasure that he felt on hearing of the so-distant coming of the Ambassadors to His Holiness and having prescribed the hour, the four Senators arrived, and stated their business to be fulfilled with His Excellency, concerning which – with Dr. Amati serving as interpreter, in the Spanish and Italian languages – a half-hour was spent in that visit with great content of the Lord Ambassadors for their offers, and most pleasing demonstrations of courtesy, that they had shown the Embassy.

            Since the hour to dine was drawing near, Lord Don Giovanni Vives came in person to visit His Excellency and the Most Reverend Padre, and exchanged various pleasantries with his Lordship the Ambassador of Spain, that these Lords with all their families should come and honor him and favor him in his own House, where there was set forth a great banquet, and repeating that they appreciated this show of affection, they were forced by the insistence of many entreaties to come and receive his favor and his blessing.

            The banquet was extremely praiseworthy in its abundance and the diversity of dishes, accompanied by various virtuous discourses, given that this Ambassador was a knight of great prudence and virtue for many years, who had served His Majesty in weighty speech, and practiced in natural studies [cosmography], and in all the business of State.  While this was going on, I sent to learn if His Most Serene Doge and the Senate could give an audience to the Japanese Embassy and the response came that this Most Serene Senate stood ready to go, and to receive honor from these Gentlemen, giving due thanks to that of Spain for the courtesy, honor and kindness used with the Embassy.

            The two Ambassadors mounted a litter to go to the Ducal Palace at whose doors stood two Secretaries of the Senate to receive the Ambassadors and to give them access to the entry in which the guard was standing formed up; and they began to climb the stair and to enter the first room, where they were received by some of the Senators and carried to the Hall of Audience; and after the first greetings were made, the Lords Ambassador sat in two seats facing the Serenest Doge who held a public Senate.

            After the bell had been struck by his Most Serene Highness as a sign for silence – because there was an infinite number of people who were helping and running in – the Most Reverend Padre Sotelo began to explain their Embassy, and recounted their previous visits with great orderliness and prudence; to which the Doge responded with a few words, but full of courtesy, giving surety to the Embassy that he was pleased by their coming and by the conversion of the King of Oshu, offering himself along with the Most Serene Senate to serve them with every promptness in all that which had encumbered them; and that not being able at the present due to the sudden departure of the galley and their embarkation to host them and to use with them every indication of courtesy, on their return from Rome he hoped to receive them properly.  To which returning many thanks to His Serenity and to the Most Serene Senate, the Lords Ambassador asked leave to go to embark, finding ready the galley for Civitavecchia.

            Again mounting into their litter that stood at the foot of the Stairs, they arrived near the galley, where they found the Ambassador of Spain and other Lords, and placed in a felucca they arrived at the galley with great celebration, sounding of trumpets and volleys of artillery and taking leave once again of the Ambassador of Spain, they sailed to Civitavecchia in four days, where the galley being arrived it made the usual greeting, which had the usual response of greetings.

CHAPTER XXVI:  How the Lords Ambassadors Having Left With a Galley from Genoa, Arrived in Civita Vecchia

The Ambassadors of King Daté Masamune, having arrived in the port (on October 18, 1615, a Sunday), Dr. Amati went to visit the Governor of the Land and explained to him the coming and the arrival of the Lords Ambassador, and the necessity that there was to honor them, and favor them, so that they could carry out their business, and having considered the necessity, being a discreet Knight, and valorous, he showed joy at this good news, and that though his Prince Our Lord should come an Embassy from so far away; and because he wanted to host them at his House, and with a contingent of Soldiers he went to visit the Lords Ambassador to congratulate them on their safe arrival, and to give them gifts of his Person and of his House, because as a Minister of His Holiness, he was obliged to do whatever he could so that they could begin to enjoy the first fruits of kindness and great mercy of Our Lord.

            The Lords Ambassador, pleased with the visit and the offer, mounted a felucca and came to land, conducted then by Governor Severolo who met with them that evening at an impromptu banquet.  The same evening, the Lords Ambassador determined to give notice of their arrival to His Holiness and to ask leave to be able to go to Rome to kiss his holiest feet, giving the order to Dr. Amati that he should write to Our Lord, to Lord Cardinal Borghese, the Spanish Ambassador, and to the Spaniard Cardinals who, writing the abovementioned letters of belief in their person and in that of Padre Brother Juan Sotelo, the brother of the most Reverend Father-Ambassador, was sent off the following morning (October 19, 1615) to make this duty of reverence and obsequy with His Holiness and verbally to supplicate him and inform him of the Embassy.

            Having arrived at Rome, he (Amati) found that the Ambassador of Spain was removed to Tivoli and that the Holiness of Our Lord had gone to see Montefortino, (in) the land of the Most Illustrious Signore Cardinal Borghese; because of which it was necessary to take Carriage and go to Tivoli with Padre Brother Juan Sotelo and the Padre Procurator of the Court of the Order of Saint Francis, where they presented the letters of his Excellency, and of the Catholic King, and of the Grandees of Spain, describing how the Lords Ambassador arrived, and told him many things about Japan, and about the voyage, and their Embassy, and the honors and favors received from His Majesty, also paying a visit to the Lords Cardinal Borgia and Zapata, passing along other letters from the Court, though not those of the Council.

            Having consulted the Order, and the decision to which it must hold, His Excellency decided to write to Secretary Giorgio Lescano so that he would go quickly to His Holiness and show him the letters from His Majesty which certified the Embassy, and (tell of) the proprieties that were observed, so that Our Lord would deign with great piety and mercy to receive it and this very duty having been carried out, with the Lord Cardinal Borghese giving the order to Monsignor the Most Reverend Costaguto, the Chief Courier and Manservant of His Holiness, and to Monsignor Paolo Alaleone, so that they would arrange for the reception of the Embassy, and that they would use with it all requisite courtesy.

            (The result was) that these Lords, having come to the Convent of the Aracoeli, treated with Padre Brother Juan Sotelo, and with Dr. Scipione Amati, dispatched with letters of support, and bearing information concerning the Embassy, and the family that accompanied it, so that they suddenly called for the carriage of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese, along with three others, and ten mules, to be made available to the Lords Ambassador.  Thursday morning (October 22, 1615), the carriage of the Lord Cardinal drew up to the stairs of the Aracoeli with Lord Francisco Bandino Secretary of the Embassy of the Most Illustrious Signoria, into which once Dr. Amati had entered, they travelled towards Civita Vecchia with the other carriages and the muleteers.

            That night they (Amati & his Roman escort) arrived at Santa Severa, where they spent the night, and the following morning (Friday, October 23, 1615) at a good hour they (Amati with vehicular transport and pack animals) arrived at the Port (of Civitavecchia) and on the fifteenth hour of Saturday (3:00 p.m. on October 24, 1615), the Lord Francesco Bandino, with letters of good faith of his Most Illustrious Lord, gave reverence to the Lords Ambassador and expressed much satisfaction with their Embassy.  Dr. Amati read the letters from Italian into Spanish, and P. Sotelo then translated (them) into the Japanese language to the Lord Ambassador.  His Excellency (the Ambassador) held them above his head and gave great thanks to the Illustrious Signoria, confessing that all the inconveniences and discomforts and dangers which they had experienced on their voyage of five thousand and three hundred leagues (see league for the actual count) were forgotten at the moment of the good news and favor that His Holiness and the Most Illustrious Signoria had served to use with them, and that his soul was full.

            And (in) a spirit of the most extraordinary content they conversed back and forth, and heard the Mass, and immediately after they ate the Carriage was put in order in which (would ride) the Lord Ambassador, the Most Reverend Padre, and Padre Ignazio, Lord Francesco Bandino, and Dr. Amati, and the other (carriages and mules) carried the entourage, so that in the evening they arrived at Santa Severa (Amati’s second visit to the town; now the whole cavalcade is travelling south along the Via Aurelia.  It still seems to be October 24), where a dinner had been prepared on the order of the Most Illustrious Signoria with officials of His Holiness, and other servants of Monsignor Commendator of Santo Spirito (in Sassia) and before they arrived inside the Castello, he shot off many pieces of artillery and muskets as a sign of happiness and honor, and after they entered inside they were received by ministers resident in the aforementioned Castle.  They stayed there and were feasted sumptuously with their whole family, procuring Sig. Flaminio Fontana – who made the introductions – to treat the Embassy, and to serve them with all possible satisfaction.

            The following morning a good hour after Mass (Sunday, 25 October, 1615), they left for Palidoro, where there was prepared a very lavish meal, at which they were joined by other officials and ministers of Monsignor Commendator; and having eaten with great pleasure, and recreation of the Lords Ambassador, and of all their family they, mounted in carriages, came to the new canals that His Holiness had made behind Saint Peter’s.  (Here) they met the field carriage of His Lord Ambassador of Spain, with Secretary Lescano who in the name of the His Excellency, who was still in Tivoli, presented to the Lords Ambassador two letters and, welcoming them, another carriage joined them, of Cardinal Zapata and two dispatches from Sig. Francesco Bandino that Sig. Federico Lanti of the Master of the Camera of the Illustrious Signoria had sent, giving advice that the Lords Ambassador could go kiss the feet of Our Holiness, as they did with much consolation and speed.

CHAPTER XXVII:  How the Ambassadors Arrived at Rome, going to His Holiness and of the Other Activities That they Did

Having arrived at Monte Cavallo (the Quirinal Palace of the Pope) at 11:30 p.m. (on that same day, October 25, 1615), awaited with great eagerness and curiosity by the Nobility of the Court, and the Swiss Guard having been set in place, and the Cavalleggieri and Palafrenieri of His Holiness, they began to climb the stairs (on the west side of Monte Cavallo, or Quirinal Hill), climbing the broad staircase directly up to the door of the Palace that stood full of gentlemen, and at the entry into the Hall came Monsignor Costaguto, and Mons. Paolo Alaleone, who in the name of His Holiness said that only the Lord Ambassadors were to come to kiss the feet and give obedience, and entering further into the rooms they found the Camerieri, and other Cavaliers, and all paid great courtesy to the Embassy.

            Here the Most Illustrious Lord Paolo Alaleone, Master of the Household of His Holiness, joined them and made his bows to the Embassy, introduced them to the audience hall and they entered in with the Master of Ceremonies making the three usual genuflections and then they prostrated themselves at His Holiness’ feet, giving a thousand thanks to His Holiness that he had deigned to do them such honor, and swearing fealty to His Holiness in the name of the King of Oshu.

            The Holiness of Our Lord showed with paternal affection great content, and satisfaction on the coming of the Ambassadors of a Kingdom so remote, that one could scarcely know the name of the island, ordering them to rise and saying to them that he was very happy for the conversion of the Kingdom of Oshu and that he intended that the Holy Gospel come to be published throughout those parts and as the Father and Universal Pastor of the Church, he had procured with all vigilance the growth of his Flock, and that he was gratified by the just insistence of the Embassy.

            To which giving infinite thanks to Our Lord’s immense piety and clemency, they went out with a great demonstration of happiness and spiritual pleasure, and – received by the family of His Holiness and by the other Nobles, and a concourse of Cavalry – they went to kiss the garment of the most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese with Dr. Amati as interpreter and after many ceremonies the Most Reverend Father (Padre Luis Sotelo) gave a brief account of the Embassy and gave infinite thanks to the Most Illustrious Signoria for the favors and honors that they had begun to give to the Embassy and in particular for having sent them a gentleman to receive them who had known so well how to please and oblige them.  At which the Illustrious Signoria was extremely cheered to know that our Holy Faith had planted itself in a Kingdom so far away, and subjected it to the Holy Faith; how the Christian King (of Spain) offered with great generosity and kindliness to favor and carry forward the business of the Embassy and procure with Our Lord its good success. 

            Licensed by the Illustrious Signoria they were (then) to visit the Most Excellent Lord Prince of Sulmona, nephew of His Holiness with the same Interpreter, and by His Holiness they were received near the doorway of the hall, and many mutual congratulations having been carried out, they entered into the room, and the Most Reverend Padre made an account to His Holiness of the Embassy and of the grace and favors in particular that Our Lord and the Lord Cardinal had made, and that they hoped for the same things from His Holiness as a Nephew and a Great Prince.  And he gave thanks for the visit, and offered to promote their just requests, and to procure similarly good things, and a quick return.

            When these three visits were finished, the Ave Maria having already sounded (as it was now dawn of October 26, 1615), they mounted into a coach to take them to the Convent of the Aracoeli, where they were received and met by all the Brothers, with many torches in the middle of the stairs, and going into the Church to pray and give thanks, the Father Guardian uncovered the glorious image of Our Lady and then they passed inside the Convent to the quarters prepared for His Excellency and for the Most Reverend Padre, with Mon. Costaguto coming out to meet them, to assign them rooms and to make offerings in the name of Our Lord.

            That evening there dined with His Excellency (the Ambassador) and with the Most Reverend Padre the usual Padres and Dr. Amati with much enjoyment for having so far followed to the end a voyage of two years and having arrived to enjoy the fruits of the great kindness of Our Lord, who had ordered them to look after themselves with every splendor and that there would be servants from the household of the Palace, with silver services and formal waiters, the provision of the use of a coach, and carriages and four Palafrenieri every time they wanted to leave the house to go a-visiting.

CHAPTER XXVIII:  How the Lords Ambassador Made a Solemn Entry into Rome

Wednesday (October 28, 1615, two days later), the day of the glorious apostles Saints Simon and Jude, the Holiness of Our Lord desired very much to give pride of place to the honors and thanks that he had decided to dispense to the Embassy.  He gave the order that it be solemnized with an entry and a cavalcade with the most pomp and festival possible and the Most Illustrious Sig. Card. Borghese falling in with this desire and pleasure of Our Lord, procured with various urgings that it be honored and favored by all the Nobility and Roman Knighthood, and above all that the Lord Cardinals and the Ambassadors not neglect to send their gentlemen. 

            Bad weather forced it to be put off until Saint Charles (Borromeo) Day, November 4, but not wishing to be sequestered on the Aracoeli for eight days (a week, Wednesday to Wednesday, counted inclusively in Roman style ), the Ambassadors sent through Dr. Amati to tell Mons. Costaguto and Mons. Paolo Alaleone that the Ambassadors would be pleased to hold the procession on the following day, that they might soon arrange a place for the Audience, and that they hoped to make clear to His Blessedness as soon as possible the just requests of King Daté Masamune, with other reasons added on that moved these Monseigneurs to set (the Audience) for the following day at 9:00 p.m. and that same evening (October 28, 1615) they brought about that which had been requested.

            The following morning (October 29, 1615) the Lord G. Battista Alaleone Master of Ceremonies of His Holiness, that he might set the order and the disposition of the solemn entrance and inform them of the usual terms and relationships of the court, wanted to keep close to His Excellency and the Most Reverend Padre, to keep them informed, along with their entourage, about the whole event.  This having been settled, with extraordinary pleasure, understanding the form and the order which they had to keep, having entered the coach of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese, they came secretly with two carriages full of Knights and gentlemen of the Camera and pages of His Excellency outside the Porta Angelica so they could make their entrance, and come to a location adapted to this effect, all of them mounted. 

            The Lord Ambassadors, withdrawing in a Room where had come Sig. Marc’ Antonio Vittorio, who was received with due courtesy, as were likewise the many Lords, Cavaliers, and Gentlemen of Lord Cardinals, and they (the Ambassadors) seeming to have corresponded to universal favor, and having given the greatest thanks that they knew how to express and to signify through interpreters, mounted on horseback and made their way with the procession following, his Holiness having sent the white hackney horses of the Palace with harness, saddles and superb caparisons.

            Already in the piazzas of Saint Peter’s, the Borgo, the Castel Sant’Angelo, Ponte, Banchi, Parione, Valle, Cesarini (Cancelleria Vecchia), Altieri, and Campidoglio (the names of the various quartieri or palazzi past which the procession will pass on its way from Porta Angelica to the Campidoglio, in order from east to west with the exception of Cesarini, which should be after Banchi; see map), very broad spaces, were congregated an infinite number of people and gentry, coaches and carriages innumerable, and in the windows, decorated with richest tapestries, cushions and drapes, stood the Ladies and Roman Matrons and other women that made a gorgeous spectacle. 

            When the trumpet of the Cavalleggieri guard sounded the advance, everyone came up to line the streets so that they could see the fifty Cavalleggieri that followed with their Captains, Lord Mario Cenci, and Lord Curtius Caffarelli behind whom came the Horse of the household of the Illustrious Cardinal Borghese and the Lords Ambassador, with many gentlemen and other Roman, French, and Spanish noblemen, two by two, with great pomp and vesture.  Then followed the Drummers of the heads of the Regions of Rome, that were fourteen in number, and at an equal distance came after them five trumpeters on horseback, that often sounded tunes, to the delight of the crowd.  Many noblemen rode after them, and titled famous folk, Knights dressed and decorated with great splendor, and before the white chineas.

            Then came one by one between two noble Romans those of the household of the Ambassador and the first seven of them between Camerieri and pages – with the usual arms, called catanas and bachifaxes that is a sword and a dagger – whose names are as follows:  Simon Sato Curanojo, Thomas Tamoquingi, Thomas Iagiami Cannoyagiemon, Lucas Yamaguchi Canjuro, John Sato Tarozayemon, John Faranda Cariamò Peringhiri, Gabriel Yamasagi Cangue Peringhiri. 

            After these came in the same order four Japanese Knights of Honor, one richly dressed like the others, and the three others in black, with a gown down to their feet, and with another down to their knees, of silk, and having on their heads berets of ormus silk, black, in the shape of a raised sack with two corners, which bonzes are accustomed to wear, and whose names are Don Thomas Taquinò Casioe, Don Peter Itamisomi, Don Francis Nomano Fampe, Don Paolo Camillo Gueghi, after whom came Gregory Matthias, who came from Japan with the Lord Ambassador as his Majordomo, dressed richly in the Italian style.

            Behind then followed two pairs of footmen, all dressed in one style, with coats worked in yellow and green silk into tiny checkers, with one Anghinata each, and an umbrella, and they are named Gregory Tocurò, Thomas Squechiro, Jacob Mofeaye, Nicholas John Quinuro. 

            The person of the Ambassador Don Filippo Francisco Hasekura was led by the hand of the most Illustrious Sig. Marc Antonio Vittorio nephew of Our Lord, flanked by the Swiss guards of His Holiness and his Palafrenieri, (himself) dressed in richest Indian draperies, and marked out into many compartments of work, figured with animals, angels, and flowers woven of silk, gold and silver, that were sewn in white.  He wore a frilled collar and a Roman-style hat, with which he saluted the people and with acts of reverence he honored them, as did also the men of his House.

            There followed on horseback the two interpreters dressed nobly in Italian style, one the Dr. Scipione Amati, Roman, and interpreter of the Spanish language, and the other Alfiere Francisco Martinez Montagno, interpreter of the Japanese language.  Finally in the coach of the Most Illustrious Cardinal Borghese there came the Most Reverend Padre Brother Luis Sotelo, principal Ambassador to the King of Oshu, with other Fathers of the Minor Order, following in many coaches and carriages.

            In passing the Piazza S. Pietro the Swiss Guards of the Pope made a great salute of many volleys of artillery and also passing the Bridge of Castel Sant’Angelo there was a fine musical interlude, and another salvo of many volleys of mortars and artillery.  Above the piazza of the Campidoglio, where the cavalcade ended, there were above the middle balustrade the trumpets of the Most Illustrious Lord Gabriel Falconio, Senator, and above the balcony on the right hand was an excellent instrumental concert, and in another the trumpets of the Illustrious Lords of the Conservatory.

            Ascending the Campidoglio, it seemed to His Excellency (the Ambassador) – thanking the Lords and Gentlemen on the sides, who were stopped there – to be one of those ancient triumphs, and arriving at the steps of the convent and dismounting from his horse, Sig. Marc’ Antonio Vittori dismissed them with great liberality and the Ambassador gave them great thanks through the Roman Interpreter, ascended the steps, where he was received by Monsignor Costaguto, greater Courier of Our Lord with all the necessary compliments.

            On the day of the solemnity of all the Saints (November 1, 1615), they were to celebrate Mass with the Pope presiding, as usual in the new Church of Saint Peter.  The Ambassadors were conducted there, and their household in the usual coach and carriage of the Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese, and having arrived at the gate opposite Santa Marta once more, the Lord Giovanni Battista Costaguto received them, and having guided them to worship the Holiest Sacrament, he put them under a covered platform, hung with rich draperies, where they heard the solemn Mass sung by Cardinal Gallo, Deacon of the Sacred College, Bishop of Ostia and of Osimo and Protector of the Holy House of Loreto and Head of the Congregation of Bishops, and they observed the ceremonies and the incomparable grandeur of the Holy Roman Church, and above all the Majesty and great clemency of Our Lord, with great devotion and wonder, and having received the holy Papal benediction, full of greatest contentment they returned by the same street to the Aracoeli. 

            Dr. Amati stayed in the Vatican Palace to supplicate Monsignor Pavone, Master of the Camera that he would consent to ask an audience with Our Lord and to set the day and the hour that the Lords Ambassador could give their obedience in the name of the King of Oshu.

CHAPTER XXIX:  How the Lords Ambassador Were at the Audience to Give Obedience to Our Lord Pope Paul V in the Name of King Daté Masamune

On 3 November (1615), the day determined to present to His Holiness the Embassy for King Daté Masamune, at the twenty-first hour (9:00 p.m.) the Ambassadors left from the Aracoeli in a coach, in the dark black dress, as also was all the household that followed in two carriages, with the four footmen who served at the feet of the Embassy on the outside of the coach.  Having also given the order that they carry the casket in which there were the garments in which they had to appear in front of the highest Pontiff, and having come to the Palace of Saint Peter in the room set aside for them to wait in, they took off their black clothes and dressed themselves in their neat, colored garb, made in a checkered style divided with white and blue work and which was then usual to wear when presented before the King or great Princes, and admitted thus with the Most Reverend Padre Sotelo to the Audience Hall, where Our Lord was seated in a throne under a rich baldaquin, the Illustrious Lord Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Protonotaries Apostolic, Apostolics, and Clerics of the Camera (members of the Papal Court) were presented, and on his right side was the Most Excellent Prince of Sulmona and on the other, other lords and title Romans, Chamberlains of His Majesty and all the nobility of the Court.

            They arrived at the beginning of the squares of seats of the Lords, where they made the first genuflexion, at the middle, the second, and the third at the most holy feet of Our Lord, which they kissed with great reverence, and the Ambassadors lifted up a sack of silk, made with great artistry, in which was a letter to His Blessedness, with Japanese characters, and one written in the Latin language, and presented there to His Holiness they retired on foot to the benches of the Lord Cardinals, bowing on their knees before beginning to give the text from the below-written Acts of the Public Audience given (in Latin) by the Ambassador of the King of Oshu of Japan.

      (Deeds) to be considered by PAUL V SUPREME PONTIFF, PRESIDING in the Hall next to the Clementine Hall, by the Cardinals on behalf of the Consistory and other public business, in the congress of their Excellencies the Cardinals and the great mass of the Prince of Sulmona, and of the High Priests, and of the Prelates, and of the Noblemen; the two Legates of the King of Oshu in Japan having been introduced to this highest and most celebrated company, namely Brother Luis Sotelo, of the order of the Discalced Franciscans Minor, and Don Philip Francis, Ambassador, after the solemn adoration of the highest Pontiff, and kissing the blessed feet, with an extraordinary expression of benevolence and charity having been accepted from the same, they had withdrawn with great modesty into a place established by the Majordomo.  After these letters had been conveyed from this King, they were publicly recited, translated from Japanese into Italian, in these words:

      The following is the text of the letter from the King of Oshu in Japan to Paul the Fifth, Supreme Pontiff:

      “Kissing the feet of THE GREAT AND UNIVERSAL, holiest of all the Priests of the Whole World, Pope Paul the Fifth, with profound submission and reverence We, Daté Masamune King of Oshu in the Japanese Empire speak supplicatingly:

      “When Father Brother Ludwig Sotelo of the religious order of Saint Francis came to my Kingdom and preached in it the Christian law, he visited me, and from his own lips I heard it, and the many mysteries which there are concerning the rite and the ceremonies of the Christians, he revealed (to me) that which (I was) hiding away in (my) heart and searching (it), recognizing it to be true and health-giving, that I might raise it up to be openly professed, so that no other business should disturb me, and inexcusable reasons hold (me) back, if however for now I am not strong (enough) I want at all events my gentry and my subject peoples to become Christians; this, that it turn out felicitously, I beg that you send to me, Blessed Father, the Religious of the Order of Saint Francis, to proclaim publicly concerning the (proper) observances, for I am especially fond of them, and watch them closely.

      “May Your Highness in truth not shudder to hand over fully all the permissions, favors and whatever else is needed for this.  I however, now will not hold back from helping those coming into this land: but in the building of monasteries and in other things, I will be devoted, with what favors I can.  And similarly I demand urgently that you distribute, guide, (and) institute all these things that are needed for the propagation of the holy law of God that there shall please you to be, chiefly that you establish in it (and) create a certain chief Priest I beg pressingly by whose regard and care all those who live in it I have no doubt will become Christians very soon; concerning however whose expenses and proceeds I beg that you are not anxious, because we wish that it be done as generously as it is proper to our own anxious care.

      “Because of this situation I send to you the before mentioned Brother Luis Sotelo, my legate, from whom you should be able to inquire concerning my heart what (ever) things seem to you (to need asking).  For he knows very well what things are planned about here, and these things that might have an effect I send with him begging that Your Blessedness should give over to him kindly ears and that (you) should give him honor, to whom also will also be entrusted a certain noble knight of my house, who is named Hasekura Rokuemon, who is similarly established as my legate, so that both are alternate agents to my compliance and the cause of (my) continual obedience to the Most Holy Roman Curia, arriving there they are to kiss your blessed feet for me and if by chance the aforementioned P. F Luis Sotelo perishes on the journey, another might be designated in his place, as you choose, so that as a legate he be admitted to you as if he himself lived.

      “I recognize, moreover, that my Kingdom is not far distant from that of New Spain, which is under the orders and power of the most powerful King Philip of Spain, whereby, because with a desire of communicating with him and with those Kingdoms of Christians, I long for his friendship, that which indeed I believe would come to pass if your authority were to intervene, I humbly beseech with prayers, so that your Highness might begin this and that you might see it through to the end, because it is extremely necessary that you should speed a mission of Religious from you into this Kingdom.

      “Will you pray to omnipotent God on my behalf in the presence of all, so that to this friendship I succeed in arriving?  If truly you see in this Kingdom anything pleasing to your desire and inclination, your Highness has only to ask (for it) since, that we might respond to your inclination, we will fulfill it with all our might.

      “It is however permitted that there be small gifts, because nevertheless they do come from a faraway region, with reverence and a little fear, I offer from Japan.  In all else we entrust us to the aforementioned Padre Sotelo and to the Knight Rokuemon, and those things which they treat of on our behalf, and which they ratify, we wish also to ratify.

      “From the State and our Senate at Sendai the eighteenth year of the Keicho Era, the fourth day of the ninth month, that is the year of our salvation 1613, the day before the nones of October (that is, October 6, using the Roman calendar).

      “Honorary cognomen:  Matcundaira Mutsunokami

      “Name and cognomen of the King:  Idate Masamune

The letter having been read and silence called for, the following oration was given by Father Gregory Petrocha Mantuano, Order of Friars Minor Observant:

      “ORATION of Brother Gregory Petrocha Mantuano, Ord. Min. de Obser.

      “To how great an extent, Supreme Pontiff, has zealous Piety attained in these days, that as a result through two sons, or servants, the name of Christ is both announced to the Gentiles and makes fruitful (their) Kingdoms.  Our Lord and Savior called Peter ‘compliant, diligent, and confessing,’ proclaiming him with remarkable inward sight and with his own voice ‘Blessed:’  ‘Blessed be thou, Simon Bar-Jonah’ for whom the Church unites, and intercedes for your Shepherd.  May the Lord preserve him and quicken him, and make him blessed on earth.  Which (pontiffs) unwillingly wear the crown of Apostlehood, or sit impatiently in that Throne of yours, or concede the name of Holiest (to anyone else).  Surely (all men) will deign to confess you most blessed?  (As) for the appellation of Holiness, know that, for now, it suffices, for the sake of that which you bear on earth, however for the title of blessed it will be well to remember, whom it is you might catch (in your holy net), when you might catch him, and whither.[2] 

      “You have caught[3] Daté Masamune, King of Oshu, within Japan, in (the net of) two Legates, Philip – forsooth – Francis Hasekura, of a most famous name among the Gentiles, and related by blood to the King, a warrior for Christ, and Ludovicus Sotelus (Luis Sotelo), Minorite of the Observants, priest of Christ, and you have caught them in the eleventh year of your most fortunate Pontificate, and you have caught them in consequence of a compact of reverence, good-will, obedience and loyalty: you secure a Gentile indeed to Christ, and to his spouse the Roman Church, but a King and very powerful, and by means of a solemn promise made to Christians.

      “To Peter, whose successor you are, how pleasing was it to catch Cornelius from the Gentiles?[4] To Paul, whose name you have honored, how pleasing it would have been to have known that the word of truth which the Macedonians had chosen[5] and in whom they persisted, in spite of much harsh persecution.[6] To the Mother[7] of Our Lord, whose worship you serve, how pleasing was it to see the Kings of Tharsis, Araby, and Sabaeum wrapped around the feet of her son?  To the Lord himself, whose Vicariate you exercise, how pleasing was it to enroll into his force (men) from the nation of Regulus[8], and a Centurion soldier?  Is it not pleasing to you to catch a King of the Gentiles?  As a Father is praiseworthy in his son, is not Holy Francis to be praised in his sons today, to whom for your blessedness, so much (of) happiness is added?

      “Angelic ardor, speak, sheltering under the ashes!  So, how do you break forth today into flames?  Breathing out fiery vapors [9] so, how does one rouse up the offspring of foreign nations?  The sweet fire of Christian charity, so, how does it burn and break?  The unspotted Law of the Lord, converting souls, renders its testimony hardly to be believed; not by means of the violence of iron, nor with illicit gold, but with its own sort of currency and its own beauty.  By means of These laws it prevails against the impieties of those people, and advancing agreeably by means of these it has moved forward, by means of these it rules, opposing itself by means of these to the abominated Iuca, the Iotoches, the Camis, and the Amida[10] and the worship of the whole body of idols, it has shaken, overthrown, and laid low the Demon.

      “Who of these stands upright, according to the report that is given?  Namely that:  by the aforementioned King, aspiring to a heavenly and true spirit, through having heard Brother Luis Sotelo, whose Roman Catechism you have admired, (it was realized that) the law of Christ – a recognized law of perfect liberty – is immune from all vices and stains, the Yoke (is) famous for the sweet lightness of its Burden[11], those dire dangers of inhuman savagery, in penalty for their support to which even the dearer of the dead Emperors were held to torture themselves, dangers forbidden by Regal authority, and condemned.  (The report also states that) the long-established impiety – among the people since the immemorial memory of past historians – was abolished, the Temples of the demons upset, Matauaximam[12] (that is a very remarkable temple) itself cleansed and set aside, being rededicated to Christ.

      “In a brief space of time eight hundred images of lifeless spirits were broken to pieces, the sacrificing priests – called in their own language Bonzes – were converted into the service of Christ, those who opposed this were killed, with Daté as the avenger and Hasekura – whom you know – as executor.  These corrupters, depraved as to their morals, and harsh, were changed into good fruit, by means of firm edicts the faith – according to the Holy Roman Church, outside of whom there is no safety – was publicly commended, and so that whoever wished to be baptized could be with impunity, without the King’s displeasure.  A prize was proposed for being baptized:  special Magistracies were to be offered to those baptized.

      “What more (could be expected) of a Catechumen? Ezekias himself was as admirable as this.  If thus (he acted) through Solomon concerning his safety, no argument can now remain.”

      “I exult, O Holiest Father, in the delights of your Blessing, not only because you have chosen this King, but because of what you now choose.  Two months have not yet elapsed since we have marveled concerning your inclination towards the Blessed Francis (not other than your usual usage, but more than usual):  for those men consigned themselves to the whole body of the faithful through the entire world so that on the seventeenth day of the month of September the office of the Stigmata of the Angelic Father could be celebrated with solemn rite, the reason for whose affect was not known, (but) now is ascertained.  To return like for like is the fate of people, because Francis, inclined to your holy happiness, compared honey to you, and the bee, just so the faith of the Gentiles, and their King is without sting, you who have rendered to him glory for glory.

      “Thirty-three years ago, from these same regions of the Orient, we remember Francis, King of the Bungis, King Protasius of the Arimans, and Prince Bartholomew of Omurcia, appointed by Christ for Gregory XIII.  That they be spokesmen, they set out from Japan (and) – on the third year afterwards – arrived at the City.  The City seemed to them to be a heavenly garden of delights because of the novelty of everything, and the piety.  It was fitting that at that time a Roman sat in the Roman Pontificate in order that those very seeds of delight be planted in those from the Oriental regions.

      “And if at one time Rome had a citizen, with accomplishments courageously carried out, comprehending what it meant to be Roman, (namely) Paul, Teacher of the Gentiles, at another time she may have also one noble, and with native Roman citizenship, and with accomplishments excellently carried out, Paul Leader of the Gentiles.  Our eyes shall see how magnificently the Lord shall extend his sandal beyond Idumaea[13].  Rejoice, because it is given to you pleasantly to move forward the foot in this sandal!  But perhaps another will say:  it should be rejoiced, assuredly it should be rejoiced, but more so if the King first having been baptized he should then have sent forth heralds.  It should be rejoiced, but more so if he should have hastened more quickly to the Christian Religion.

      “As to the first, it is not mine to determine.  I know that there is danger in delay; I know this (is true) no matter what man it may be, of all the hours (there may be).  I know however also that the Ark of the Lord was built out of smooth pieces of wood; does one not ask the decorator for another for smoothing?  In precious carving, greater skill is not hindered, is it?  Does porphyry or travertine stone fall each in the same way?  Is work in adamant elaborated in the same way, as is topaz?  Elegance is sought first of all not for how long, but for how well it is polished.

      “In a situation of such gravity, how much the more must we instruct in religion (beginning from) the head, being on that account the greater in appearance, and greater in beauty among the members.  If the Prince must swim at the top of the water, it is not sufficient that he should have skill, but that he be outstandingly skilled.  Christian Religion demands extraordinary erudition of faith in a Prince.  This, however, both by reason and by practice, may be obtained, through persistence, the King will learn that he may teach others to persist.  Is it not the business of the interested party to prepare all things sacred for the rite, lest at the Altar (as the vulgar say) he dawdle, being delayed in deliberation?  It is not different for Daté be baptized – (at first) disgusted with baptism, but by a certain higher intuition – into a richer harvest of the field of salvation.

      “As to the second, I might praise a timely increase, but I am not astonished if it is late.  The Sun begins his lustration of all things in the Orient; he ends it in the Occident.  The Bungi, the Arimai, and the Omurcii, live at the head of the regions of Japan – if my geography does not fail me – closest to the setting of the sun; Oshu is at the other extreme, closest to its rising.  Christ the light of the world, being of such use by a new order of things, wished that the ‘last may be first, and the first, last’[14].  And in the same way from those (in the West of Japan) to those of Oshu. 

      “We rejoice that in a period of thirty-three years we have seen – the Messenger having arisen from the rising sun – a man holding with the sign of the living God, that he had proclaimed Christ to those at Nagasaki – at the Western region – and confirmed the Gospel under a rubric of blood, and now, through those same men, we see (it) announced to the East, and praised the praiseworthy name of the Lord, ‘even from the rising of the Sun to the setting of the same’[15].

      “On that cloth – on which Cephas of all the Apostles, saw the conversion of the Gentiles after mystical enigmas, bearing a sacred story – there were flying creatures, quadrupeds, and things that crept on the earth[16].  The flying creatures move more quickly than the creeping ones, and the Dragon, although winged, does not call forth its young as quickly as does the Eagle.  I see through the mercy of God and by his incomprehensible judgment that from the remotest parts of the globe the flying creatures come to Christ; I see that the creeping creatures arrive, and I think upon these things from the mysteries.  The truth touches from one end of the earth to the other.  Scarcely a line divides them; Christ joins them both and both poles grow warm as one.

      “They will come, ‘they will come to you thus from south and north,’ just as they come from west and east, Kings and People, and they will ‘lick up the dust of their feet.’[17]  Syren Amicum nunciat.[18]  Of the whole inhabitable region (of Japan), a length of eight hundred leagues is described, its width being narrow, very little beyond a hundred leagues.  The faith is preached over its length and breadth.  The movement of Religion from the East surpasses its movement from the West by a hundred leagues.  Your heart will see the conversion of the whole Empire, and it will be rejoiced. 

      “Let there however, not be any too-quick anxiety whatever in the business of salvation, I should say however, now that Daté comes, in the middle of his days, that is, at forty-nine years of age.  The plan of God is inscrutable: in this measure, however, of completed time, will not seem among them – if they seem themselves to be wise – nor to fear – his conversion of spirit to be in the Christian matter, not of the well-trained man, nor of the cast-off man, by which censure the first faithful were despised by the infidels.  Of this King I hope for an exemplary universal kingdom; that he will be a man fit to unite the Empire of Japan itself.  Many acts of statesmanship recommend Daté to be Prince, many discords of interregnum suppressed: that he is a very vigorous Leader, with wars gloriously carried out; he is extremely Wealthy, with eight hundred thousands of armed men under extended daily pay; he is exceedingly Beneficent[19]with forbearance towards those he has conquered, and to his neighbors; extremely Powerful, linked in two marriages, with his son, forsooth, and a daughter of the highest Emperor of Japan[20].  By which he becomes (and attains to the last of those speaking) such that you may excuse him thereby more freely, and that you might show yourself the most blessed of the whole world.

      “For to what purpose has he sent to you?  To what purpose does he beg to be chosen?  By chance, and as with assailing necessity, that you help him with reinforcement troops?  That you subdue the insolent attacks of his enemy?  That you repress rebels with your wealth?  Daté abases his kingdom – take heed, Fathers of the Purple! – his kingdom, his crown, his scepter, his mantle, at these holy feet.  He seeks here to obtain the holy – if I can keep myself from excessive weeping – the holy bathing of rebirth; he earnestly requests blessings in spiritual things; he hopes fervently to join his own flesh with the maternal flesh of the Holy Roman Church and the Paternal Roman Pontificate.  Proven, he adores Christ in Paul V, and bends the knee to Paul the Fifth in Christ.

      “Therefore he asked that a well-regulated man come to you, sent a man close to his heart, a Prince subjected to himself, not yet at that time baptized, but on the journey to being baptized, just as he was (in fact) solemnly baptized on 17 February of the present year, in Madrid, in the presence of His Catholic Majesty, so that his messages – full of the spirit – would be redolent of the spirit, would belch forth spirit, would desire spiritual things, would bring back spiritual things, a Bird from Birds, a Christian as Daté soon will become, the catechumen discloses Daté.

      “The rule of Blessed Augustine – on whom be the favor of God – on the rudiments of catechizing for the first time was that the intention of the one approaching be explored, lest he approach the thing falsely, whether from the heart or the spirit, or from fickleness.  What is Daté’s intention?  The intention of piety: for the King himself began at the age of 12 to be influenced by Christ; by four (men?) he was made new in Christ; with brief training he gained much ground; rescuing Christians he was made their guest; from being a guest, he became a friend; from a friend a disciple, and from a disciple a defender; from a defender a propagator; from a propagator, a pattern and exemplar to other Princes of Japan who were being drawn to Christ.

      “In the land of the Prince closest to him, who scarcely suffers Christians to be admitted into his territory, it happened that that Prince was of the opinion that he had suffered some offense from them, who then boiled over with such indignation against them that he incarcerated a thousand eight hundred of them at the same time, destined for death; from whom some were led forth to the executioner’s axe, others to hanging; the priests truly and the deacons were destined to be burnt alive.  One day a very great number of these and of others was awaiting death.  Now the pyre was prepared, now a multitude of the populace gathered for the imminent spectacle, now the hungry flame twisted up from its fodder.  Daté, aware of the situation, urgently requested from the author of this martyrdom – solely out of Christian piety – that the souls of all be given to him.  He obtained them; he snatched them, not from Christ but from death, excepting only twenty-eight, whom the wisdom of God, as She arranged equally bravely and sweetly, had taken up to herself into the fragrance of sweetness through fire and sword.

      “Nor on that account did the regeneration once undertaken yet permit that one (Daté) by more serious arguments of piety to grow cold, or even cool.  But when Orators with the British and Batavians, at the Imperial Court of Japan, asking for the emperor’s friendship attacked, invading the blessedness of this Holy See, grudging it at least, lying in wait, setting themselves up in opposition; Daté warned the Shogun that only the Roman Church was the legitimate bride of Christ, without a spot, nor a wrinkle.  By his counsel those having been dismissed, he preferred to turn aside to the recently begun society, with Philip Catholic King of Spain, the legitimate son of his Mother.

      “I leave the Consequences to be considered with your judgment, most glorious Fathers.  You must ponder what sort of Rome you have been, what you should be.  We should listen in the meantime to Saint Leo:  ‘You who were a Schoolmistress of error, are made a disciple of truth: is it not given that nothing will oppose you?  You who were a disciple of truth, are made Schoolmistress, and Mother of truth, a Column, the underpinning of faith.  Japan in error is to you a sister; in truth she becomes to you a most obsequious handmaiden:  let her be – yes! – let her be a most beloved daughter!  Hitherto a zeal for piety has prevailed among the Japanese; hitherto we have seen them come among us, so that you might gather into the number of your flock King Daté as a catechumen.

      “Best, Greatest, Highest, Holiest we confess you.[21] Blessed is he whom you choose out of this (flock), when and whither you choose him I am scarcely able to say.  I am saddened that neither my tongue nor my heart suffices.  I have been able to venerate your blessedness as I may say from the doorway only.  Look out upon your supplicants, Redeemer of the World, you who multiply your Church with a new birth, thanks to the Blessed Francis: your servant Daté, whom you have willed to lead as King of the Oshuans! Include him among your sons of the adoption, and make your Apostolic Paul – whom you have willed to make Shepherd of the Church – always to lead fortunately, preserve him, may you make him blessed on earth as you will make him blessed in Heaven.  And just as he was gladsome in the halving of the chlamys[22] and as you have sometimes called him blessed, Martin, while he was yet a catechumen, has woven me together with this garment.  Thus he whom you take up into your Palace, by means of the chlamys, (made) gladsome through your Paul, and we will hear the speaking happily.  Daté, as yet only a catechumen, has clothed me in this glory, etc.[23]”

To this Oration by the Most Reverend Don Pedro Strozio, in the name of the Highest Pontiff, responded in these words. (sic)[24]

      The RESPONSE of PETER STROZA, SERVANT of the HOLIEST APOSTOLIC SECRETARIAT of OUR LORD

      “O Speakers – religiously and piously O Priest of the Lord Luis and generously O Knight Philip Hasekura -- you have brought the most pleasing News to Our Holiest Lord, that King Daté Masamune, whose Empire is so broad among the Japanese, and of such ample and strong wealth, and whose powers, thus far firm defenses, while from continual and quick preparation for war so also from an extremely close bond – and of double affinity – with the highest King of Japan[25] that – afire with the ardor of divine love – he has received the Christian faith, and is up to now as a Catechumen he has cared for the propagation of the faith, and the true worship of God, among his people with the highest zeal, and has sent you for this reason to the Holy Apostolic See.

      “His Holiness rejoices very much, and gives enormous thanks to God, because in the time of his own Apostolic Ministry there shall have begun to be heard favorably the Gospel of Christ the Lord in the most Easterly parts of Japan[26], and that News of this event has been conveyed on the thirty-third year after the first Christians – from Western regions of his most wealthy island – disembarked their Ship, legates to the highest Pontificate.[27]

      “Quite truly the hope – which dawned for the completion of the preaching of the Gospel throughout the whole round Globe of the lands – ought to have been fulfilled and completed in this mysterious period of years[28] in which the Redeemer deemed it worthy to wander on earth in human form.

      “Therefore supported by divine mercy Our Holiest Lord certainly hopes that King Daté –washed white in the font of holy baptism, the sooner the better – will take up his garment, just as to the safety of his soul he urges so very efficaciously.

      “By which faith he most lovingly has received with these his most venerable brothers the Cardinals of the Holiest Roman Church this declaration of his pious intent, and set forth for you all on his behalf, and also his obsequy and veneration of the Holy Apostolic See.

      “And he prays God with the whole appearance of his heart, so that through his immense goodness it come to pass, that which he began through his ineffable mercy in King Daté, and himself meanwhile about to omit nothing so that as much as he can cause to come into being with the Lord so as be satisfactory to the pious and just desires of this King, and that it should be provided for opportunely for the spiritual solace of the subjected populace.

      “Thus it was ordered by me to respond.  I have spoken.”

After this, the legates once again approached the most holy feet and began again to kiss them; from which reverent and devoted kissing the Pontiff kindly excused them, and anticipated that they should stand to the right-hand side under the baldachin and on the footstool on which the Pontifical See was based, until such time as the companions of the aforementioned religious Legate the Most Reverend Luis Sotelo, and the whole family of the Most Excellent Lord Secular Legate had all kissed one by one to the number of twenty-five the most blessed feet of Our Lord.

            This having been done, the Pontiff, his stola having been set aside and the Legates having been benevolently inspected, having received blessing copiously, betook himself to the Palace.  And the Legates, venerating the Holy College of Cardinals, both cheerfully offering devoted kisses to each and every one, and with great show of piety being excused by them from doing so, were also honored.  Then, after changing out of their regal garb, with great comradeship and universal congratulation having entered to the Church of the Prince of Apostles – here giving thanks to God with singular piety and devotion, venerating the holy bodies of Peter of the Blessed Apostles and of Paul – they returned to the Convent of the Aracoeli, with that same Company.

CHAPTER XXX:  How the Lords Ambassador Having Received the Public Audience from Our Lord, begin to Visit the Illustrious Lord Cardinals

The Lords Ambassadors and all their entourage finding themselves at leisure and served to a marked degree – and with respect on the orders of Our Lord and the vigilance of Monsignor Costaguto that the Papal quarters of the Aracoeli by their own servants were arrayed in peacock blue hangings, to make known the right, held to honor the coming of the Ambassadors, and to show forth on similar occasion the great piety, mercy, and paternal love that he professed to those who come in the name of faith, and who make acts of reverent submission to the holy Apostolic See – the Lords Cardinal resident at the Court began to visit them in due order, bearing to each one infinite joy to hear of the conversion of the King, and the love that he has towards our holy faith, and the hope that he would soon become a Christian, and congratulating everyone, they offered to serve the Embassy, and help their good success, because they should report all these favors, honors and dignities that had been imposed upon them in this region, and certainly that the Most Illustrious Signoria had shown them in making all possible honors and courtesies to the Embassy, addressing them by the titles of Excellency and Most Reverend and with all the other circumstances that they used with the Embassy of a Christian King.

            Of which it remained most of all very content, and very obliged to the Sacred College, with the hope of returning to the salvation of Japan, and to make a very full report, and a testimony of the grandeur, and singular kindness that blossomed in the Apostolic Senate, and the humanity and holiness of life that they all professed, as members chosen and corresponding to the Head of the Church, that is the Vicariate of Christ, and successor to Saint Peter, Pope Paul V, in whose most fortunate Pontificate one could see illustrated the great City of Rome, with the magnificence and grandeur of the Temple of Saint Peter, with the richness of the Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore, unique in the Christian Republic, with the great supply of water conducted from such a distance to the public benefit, with the delights of Monte Cavallo, where they could see reign peace and justice, and see blossom virtue and abundance, truest fruits of good government, of the holy and correct intention of the highest Roman Pontiff, that God might preserve for many years in his holy Church for the blessing of the Christian Republic.

            A private audience having been arranged on the insistence of Monsignor Paone, Master of the Camera the Ambassadors went to kiss the feet of His Blessedness, and after having talked of the pleasure and content that he felt on hearing the information of such curious things, they gave into his holy hands the Memorial in the name of King Daté, begging that he treat with His Majesty with the clemency and kindness that are proper to the Holy See, and to send them on their way with all speed.

            Our Lord, who has been given among other riches and virtues that of Christian pity and paternal love, politely consoled the Ambassadors that they stood very sure of favors and honors, if they could wait upon such a great Majesty.

CHAPTER XXXI:  How the Secretary of the Ambassador Was Baptized and Confirmed in Saint John Lateran and Other Actions and Honors Made by the Ambassadors

The Lord Ambassador Hasekura having insisted, and supplicated the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese to deign to give the holy sacrament of baptism to his Secretary, who was a Catechumen of many months, and well-instructed in those things relating to the Catechism and mysteries of the faith and to this point not having been baptized in order to celebrate this act of Christianity in the presence of His Lord the Most Illustrious by whom he insisted grandly that he should show his kindness in a work of such great merit, since he was consecrating a soul of the Lord and giving him access to the embrace of the Church.

            The Lord Cardinal, delighting in this just request, and of the occasion which contained so many good consequences, having already chosen the date of it set by Our Lord he ordered that the sacrament be celebrated in Saint John Lateran in the baptistery of the Emperor Constantine, at the hand of Monsignor the Vice-regent, receiving with great pleasure Our Lord the Most Illustrious[29] to be his Patron of Baptism, and the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Leni (Patron of) Confirmation. 

            The Sunday morning of 15 November, having been brought a garment of white satin, with socks, a round mantle, cap, stockings, a long vest, a collar, and boots, garnished with silk sidebars of the aforementioned Secretary, by the order of Our Lord, the Ambassadors were favored by the company of Monsignor Costaguto to go to Saint John Lateran in the usual cortege, where they adored the Holy Sacrament as a beginning to the sacrament of catechizing the Secretary, and giving great demonstration that he recognized and believed all the things and articles necessary to the aforementioned Sacrament.  He was brought into the Baptistery, and he put his head over the holy font of ancient porphyry, placed there only for similar solemnities of Gentiles or Pagans, and having followed the usual set of questions ordered by the Holy Roman Church, the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Borghese came, who was his Patron, giving the name of the baptized as Paul Camillus.

            When this solemnity was over, they went to the Chapel of the Madonna, attached to the same Baptistery, where the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Leni confirmed him, placing on his neck from the hand of the same Monsignor a very beautiful golden necklace with an Agnus Dei on it, calling down by these acts the protection of the Patriarchs, the Archbishops, the Bishops, the Prelates, Canons, and much nobility and Knights of Rome.  Thus officially licensed, the Ambassadors kissed the robes of His Most Illustrious Lord for the favor and such singular graces, not realizing at the time that any Cardinal who solemnized these Sacraments in a place so famous and noteworthy to the Church as had deigned to do His Most Illustrious Lord, clearly wanted to honor and favor the Embassy and to give it all possible pleasure.  And they all remained to hear the Mass of Monsignor the Vice-regent, in which Don Paul Camillus also received the holy Sacrament of Eucharist with great devotion, and calmness of spirit.  It certainly was a day of great content, and pleasure for the whole entourage.  Monsignor Costaguto did not cease to give continual assistance with the Embassy, and to give them help in the name of His Holiness, most of all desirous of comforting them on all occasions. 

            On the same day at 11:00 p.m. having begged leave, the Most Reverend Father Sotelo with three Japanese Christian Religious, called Don Thomas Taquino Casioe, Don Peter Itamisoni, Don Francis Nomano Fampe, dispatched by the Christians of Japan to represent to Our Lord the state of the Church and of the faith planted in those parts with a letter written in Japanese characters, and turned now into the Latin language, this new vine offering to Our Lord a Crucifix placed inside a curious little box, and made from a piece of wood on which was martyred a Religious in Japan.

            And after having been heard kindly by His Blessedness, and having kissed his holy feet, they went in to receive his holy blessing, along with all their entourage[30] that they might then leave with the consolation of the great humanity and mercy which he maintained, and going then to give their thanks to the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal for the favor that he had shown to Don Paul Camillus, they found that he was occupied. 

            It would not be possible to express the honor which this Embassy received in Rome under the protection and good will of Our Lord, as well as that of the Spanish Ambassador, the Most Illustrious Senate and Conservatory of Rome, the Ambassador of Malta who have favored it with an anticipated visit, and have made generous offers of service with all haste.  Now the Ambassadors are busy receiving the visits of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinals, and other Princes, and Titled Gentlemen with great favor of the City and celebration of the Populace, having already visited the seven Churches to earn Indulgences with four travel-carriages of the Most Illustrious Cardinal Borghese, and having received great edification and spiritual pleasure, dining at Saint Paul’s, endowed sumptuously by the Father Abbot and the Procurator with gifts, awaiting the hour that Our Lord through his appropriate goodness deigns to send them away consoled, and content with all his favors, that aim at the growth of our holy faith, and the extirpation of the Idolatry reigning in Japan.

-- End --

NOTE:  Three summaries in Spanish of all the above doings follow this text, to a total of 12 pages, all printed in Seville at different times and by different houses:  two in 1614 by Alonzo Rodriguez (the first) and Diego Perez (the second) & the last in 1616 by Francisco de Lyra.  The first has at its close a letter signed by Hasekura Rokuemon, dated 30 September of the eleventh year of 1614 in Seville, summarizing in Spanish the reason for his embassy.  How these were included in a text published in Rome in 1615 may be imagined:  perhaps a second edition including the summaries was printed without a change in the frontispiece.

[1] (i.e. Pope Paul V).

[2] Brother Gregory seems to be making elaborate reference to the verse from the Gospel of Matthew (16: 18-19), written in Latin letters six feet tall, all around the interior of the new Saint Peter’s Basilica:  “You are Peter, and on this Rock…”

[3] The verb used, excipere, means “to draw out” as one catches a fish, most appropriate for Peter, the Fisher of Men.

[4] There would have been a murmur of appreciation at this neat touch.  By reminding the Romans they were once Gentiles, they must therefore wonder how great the Japanese church might become:  as great as that of Rome?

[5] Going on to the other great patron saint of Rome, Paul (the Pope’s namesake), he reminds Paul V that the Macedonians excipiunt (again “catch” but better “chose”) the word, making a play on the “chosen people” of whom St. Paul certainly was one.

[6] A much-needed reminder that the early Church also experienced persecution.

[7] Genetrix is a word his audience would have associated with Venus Genetrix, divine ancestress of Julius Caesar; it imprints a Roman presence onto the Holy Virgin.

[8] M. Atilius Regulus, a hero of the First Punic War.  This and the reference to the Centurion who appears in the Gospels are further references to the Roman Church.

[9] Sirach 43:4 from the Latin Vulgate. I use the NRSV translation of the phrase igneos radios exsufflans.

[10] Yuka is to be understood as Yaka, and Iotoches as Hotokes (see Glossary).

[11] “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:30.

[12] Here we must assume Matsushima, in other words the current site of Zuiganji temple.

[13] This is a region of southern Palestine identified with Edom, and here stands poetically for the land of Israel.

[14] Matthew 20:16.

[15] Psalm 113:3 & Malachi 1:11.

[16] Act 10:11.  The passage is generally seen as explaining to Peter that Jews need not continue to follow traditional dietary restrictions under the reformations of Jesus.

[17] This is a conflation of Isaiah 59:19 (where the people are likened to a flood) and Micah 7:17 (where they come out of their holes like snakes).  The reference to snakes lapping up dust is not very complimentary to the ambassadors, nor to Daté!

[18]  It is part of an adage from Erasmus, drawn from earlier sources:  Siren amicum nunciat, apis hospitem. “A wasp announces a friend; a bee a stranger.”

[19] The word is Foelicissium, in which word his audience will have caught the epithet of Julius Caesar Felix, also unusual in forgiving his enemies.

[20] This reversed from we know from earlier portions of the story:  his daughter married one of the Shogun’s sons,

[21] Briefly the one addressed has been in the feminine gender, i.e., Roma.  This section begins with a change in gender, so presumably he is addressing God directly.  The first two titles were those used by the Romans for Jupiter.

[22] Saint Martin divided his military cloak in two to share with a poor naked man, from his days as a catechumen soldier; he is paralleled with Daté, as yet unbaptized and yet doing works of charity; perhaps Martin is being called as a sponsor and witness.

[23] It ends thus abruptly, with etc., usually reserved for a series of obvious honorifics.

[24] This is very poorly put, and seems to mean that Strozio responded to this oration, given what follows.

[25] Stroza cleverly uses above-mentioned points to weaken his rival’s argument, setting up the word duplicis to suggest duplicity when pointing out Daté’s close connection with the Shogun:  such a relationship is truly a double-edged sword.

[26] Another nice-but-naughty reference:  Orientis Partibus is an old carol concerning the coming of the magi from “eastern parts” but the song was used at the Feast of Fools, begging the question, Are these Japanese making fools of us?

[27] Through a neat conflation of ad and ex, he makes the Westerners both those living in the Western regions of Japan and the Westerners who landed there, emphasizing the length it has taken to Christianize the East of Japan, and reminding all present who those primi Christianorum were, namely Jesuits, not Franciscans.

[28] Thirty-three years is the traditional life-span of Christ on earth.

[29] The feminine gender of Illustrissima must be wrong here.

[30] Their fameglia, as always.